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 The Good Life. |
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You Are Welcome Here Life is good. Let's share it. New Year, New Strategy For 2026, I launched a weekly topic rotation designed to help me stay d i s c i p l i n e d while ensuring that you, the reader, always know what to expect. Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a million followers  and gain official WDC "influencer" status, and I often find myself seduced by whimsy. Thus, my blogging strategy continues to evolve.So, What Can I Expect? I'm glad you asked. For now, until whimsy strikes again, here's what you can expect (updated March 2026): Weekly Theme Posts  Music & music educationThe art and business of writingOwning & managing a small businessScience & technologyParkinson's disease, type 1 diabetes, and other medical topicsPersonal News & Updates Health newsFamily, work and leisureThe Occasional Rant Although I try to post rants at "What the Fork?" (and you should, too!) Newly Written Works When I check off completed writing goals, I'll share the fruits of those labors, if applicable. Weekly Goals & Progress I'll establish work and writing goals every Monday and touch base throughout the week. |
| Yesterday, I had my six-month followup with my Movement Disorders Specialist (MDS), neurology nurse practitioner, Jessica. She appreciates my tech savvy, and I feel more like a collaborator than a patient with her. What is Parkinson's Disease? PD is an incurable, progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder caused by the death of the brain cells that make dopamine. Since dopamine is required to execute muscle movement, the disease is neurological, but it manifests in the failure of your muscles to move properly. The four symptoms used in diagnosis per CDC guidelines are: tremor; stiff muscles; slow, slug-like movement (bradykinesia); and balance issues. I have the first three. Additional symptoms can be vast and varied, depending on which of your muscles rebel most prominently and it what way, as well as what medications you take. Every PWP (person with Parkinson's) is different. My PD symptoms, in addition to tremor, stiffness, and bradykinesia:  constipation (bowels are muscles) vision problems (eyes are muscles) shallow breathing (the diaphragm that pumps your lungs is a muscle) vocal tension/strain (vocal cords are muscles) left foot toe curling and ankle inversion (you get the idea) insomnia (because of all the other problems) memory/cognition sluggishness (because neurotransmitters; or, insomnia + ADHD?)Symptoms caused by medication: constipation (double whammy) insomnia (another double whammy) dry mouth dry eyes dyskinesia (involuntary motion) from too much supplemental dopamineMore than half of my official diagnoses are actually symptoms of the umbrella PD diagnosis. And I take so many meds for the side effects as well as primary conditions that I have to use the margins on the form at the doctor's office.  MDS Visit My MDS performs an assessment to calculate my Universal Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) every appointment. She asks me to tap toes, tap my heels, walk down the hall, flip my hand up and down on my thigh, etc etc. For each motion she observes, she records a rating when she observes symptoms. The maximum score (worse case scenario) is 260. When I was first diagnosed and unmedicated in early 2022, my score was 28. I couldn't wash my own hair or brush my teeth. I can't imagine what it's like to be over 100, and I hope I never have to know. Yesterday's score (while fully medicated and "on", which, in PD lingo, means the meds are working well) was 8. I've been in single digits for about two years now, so the meds have been working and continue to work for now. The drug is called carbidopa-levodopa (or just levodopa or C/L). I call it a miracle drug, and I'm grateful for it. So, all of that is good news. Botox The bad news is my dystonia is getting worse. My vocal strain and toe curling/ankle twisting are both diagnosed as dystonia. Dystonia is technically a type of dyskinesia - meaning that it causes involuntary muscle movements - but it's more specific in that it's characterized by muscle contractions, and usually focused on specific muscles (in my case, muscles in my foot and head/neck.) Meanwhile, the dyskinesia we talk about in PD is usually caused by too much levodopa, and it looks like a dancing, swaying motion. For my voice, I've been getting Botox injections in my larynx for over a year, every three months. We haven't pinned down the dose yet. The Botox works by relaxing (technically, paralyzing) the muscles, which means that if we inject too much, my vocal cords will be relaxed (paralyzed) too much, and I can't speak above a whisper. This last injection, the weak-and-breathy period was over five weeks, only leaving seven weeks til the next injection. So we're tweaking. By the time we get it right, my PD will probably progress. We're shooting at a moving target.  Although it's definitely an option, I don't want Botox in my foot. For one thing, I can't imagine what walking would be like if we overshoot the dose. Also, those injections are pricey, and if I have to choose between my voice and my foot, fix my voice, please! Takeaways Jessica and I discussed smoothing out the highs (which cause dyskinesia) and lows (which cause dystonia) in my dopamine levels. There's a pump now, but I already manage an insulin pump, and the levodopa pump has some problems with injection-site infections. So we settled on spreading my daily levodopa intake over more frequent, smaller doses, six times per day. This ADHD girl has discovered the medication tracker in the Samsung Health app. I think it might actually be manageable. I just passed the 24-hour mark on the new 6x-per-day. Here's hoping it helps. Bottoms up! It's levodopa time.   New goals for this week are below. Musically, Literarily, and Medically, Michelle Goals for 3/9/26 - 3/15/26 Work Goals   Review work tasks list 3x per week Advertising - Needs immediate attention! Website Updates - Pending Budget - Pending Lease renewal - Pending, not urgent yet. In June, it'll be urgent.Writing Goals Three reviews. Because I'm high on the credited list and competitive  Add content to MichelleTuesday.com/author -Pending Min 30 min/week on current novel - Pending Two short stories for "The Bradbury" - Pending One themed blog post - Parkinson's Disease update. Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - caught up until Thursday. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - Pending |
| As we close up another week together on Planet Earth, I thought you might like to hear about dramatic Netflix productions highlighting two of the worst things that ever happened on our shared planet: (1) the Holocaust, and (2) the asteroid collision that caused the extinction of almost all of the dinosaurs. Nuremburg (Netflix) A two-and-a-half-hour movie starring Russell Crowe as the Nazi second-in-command and war criminal Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, and Rami Malek as the US Army psychiatrist, Douglas Kelley, tasked with analyzing him to confirm he would be fit to stand trial at the Nuremburg Trials. It was educational and heartbreaking. Despite the hype around Crowe's performance implying otherwise, the story is Dr. Kelley's. In order to get Goering to trust him, Kelley spent thousands of hours interviewing him, finding ways to connect and empathize with him - arguably one of the most evil persons in the history of mankind. All of the acting was outstanding. But even more important was the educational element. I especially appreciated the cuts to actual footage from the Nuremburg Trials, demonstrating that they had staged it accurately. The educational element may have slowed down the story a bit, especially given its length, so Wiki's classification as a "psychological thriller historical drama film" may be a little generous. It's definitely the second half of that description. Our household rating:    The Dinosaurs (Netflix) A 4-episode docuseries narrated by Morgan Freeman. Do you even need more than that? If that's not enough of a recommendation, then how about "produced by Stephen Spielberg"?  So, this series was utterly stunning. The live-footage landscapes were breathtaking. The CGI elements, other than the dinosaurs, included representations of major extinction-level Earth events, and a neat signal of the passage of time where the episodes used different "camera angle" (not a real camera, lol) strategies to imply that the Earth was spinning at warp speed. It was also incredibly educational and engaging. For comparison, I love David Attenborough nature documentaries, but I can zone them out and focus on, say, writing a blog post with it playing in the background. Freeman's voice is no less soothing than Attenborough's, but the content was so interesting that I had a hard time looking away from the screen. Another 4-thumbs-8-paws-up rating from us. We highly recommend both. A goals update to close the week is below. I didn't get everything, but I got a lot, and I'm happy. New empty checkboxed goals tomorrow. Cheers, Michelle Goals for 3/2/26 - 3/9/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Advertising - Needs immediate attention! Website Updates - Virtual Lab, Performance Events, Calendar pages under Student Center menu Budget - To revisit next week. Lease renewal - TBD, not urgent yet. In June, it'll be urgent.Writing Goals One review per day Mon-Thu Add content to MichelleTuesday.com/author - On the agenda today. Min 30 min/week on current novel - I sprinted at "Sprint Writers Forum" ! One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD One themed blog post - I reviewed "56 Days" earlier, and today, "Nuremburg" and "The Dinosaurs" Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - Complete Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - TBD |
| A few months ago, I fired the digital marketing company who recently took over for the company who had been managing my digital advertising for years. The details of all that are a topic for another day, but today, that leaves me trying to figure out - again - how to use Google Ads without the help of a consultant. By now, it should be easier than it was the last time we tried to do it ourselves. Alas, it is not. But I'm trying to learn and understand, and one step I took was to install Site Kit on my Wordpress website. I'm playing with it now, and here's an interesting top ten list (I did promise a blog post with a numbered list!) For reference, the website is http://www.michelletuesday.com Top search queries for your site (Clicks, Impressions) 1. michelle tuesday music school (24, 73) 2. michelle tuesday (15, 34) 3. is jim carrey left handed (2, 627) ??????? 4. what was the first instrument ever made (2, 124) 5. 2010 pop artists (1, 46) 6. 2010 pop stars (1, 15) 7. 2010s pop artists (1, 93) 8. at what age did taylor swift start playing guitar (1, 7) 9. bb king left handed (1, 1) 10. can taylor swift play guitar (1,28) I don't know how Jim Carrey wormed his way into my blog. Maybe Storm Machine  , who contributes to the music school's blog, has an idea? And while I'm glad the school blog is garnering hits, I'd be interested in getting hits from keywords like, you know, "music lessons" or "learn piano".  The first hit in that realm is ranked at #27: "ocarina lessons near me." Yay for niche markets?That's where Google Ads would come in - I can boost the keywords that aren't showing up in the organic hits. I think. I may need a consultation with the marketing guy who helps me because his daughter is my songwriting student and their family loves us. I try not to take advantage. All of this explains the second line in my goals, which are updated below.  Musically, Michelle Goals for 3/2/26 - 3/9/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Advertising - Needs immediate attention! Website Updates - Added 4-Week Trials & updated the Careers page with photos!http://www.michelletuesday.com/get-to-know-us/careers Budget - Though I now have more questions than answers. To revisit next week. Lease renewal - TBD, not urgent yet. In June, it'll be urgent.Writing Goals One review per day Mon-Thu Add content to MichelleTuesday.com/author - TBD Min 30 min/week on current novel - I sprinted at "Sprint Writers Forum" ! One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD but wrote "Water-Bat" for last week. One themed blog post - I reviewed "56 Days" but bouncing around more ideas. Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - One badge to go, which requires my last review. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - TBD |
I'm so close to completing my current assignment for "26 Paychecks " ! I just need to write one review tomorrow.  On a related note, I love the Review Tool update. I also love the snippets! I formerly used forum-specific or book-specific signatures, but the snippets are much more flexible.Keith and I watched the Steal pilot on Prime Video per Jeff  's suggestion. So far, so good! I could tell you about it, but why reinvent sliced bread? Read what Jeff had to say here: "Watch List - February 2026" Goals are below. I added "Needs immediate attention" to "Advertising" almost two days ago, but you wouldn't know, because I haven't updated the blog since Monday morning. Nor have I attended to Advertising in all those almost-two days. Considering today was hump day, I have a lot of unchecked boxes on that list. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow! You're always when I plan to do stuff. Peace, Michelle Goals for 3/2/26 - 3/9/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week - yes, and now I have three new goals. Advertising - Needs immediate attention! Website Updates - Added 4-Week Trials & updated the Careers page with photos!http://www.michelletuesday.com/get-to-know-us/careers Budget - Though I now have more questions than answers. To revisit next week. Lease renewal - TBD, not urgent yet. In June, it'll be urgent. Teaching training for March - I forgot about this, but my receptionists kindly reminded me. Writing Goals One review per day Mon-Thu - Review of "A Box of Weeds"  Add content to MichelleTuesday.com/author - TBD Min 30 min/week on current novel - TBD One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD One themed blog post - I reviewed "56 Days" but bouncing around more ideas. Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - One badge to go, which requires my last review. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - TBD |
| Keith and I binged all 8 episodes of 56 Days on Prime Video over the weekend. On the plus side, the storytelling was gripping. We wanted to watch more episodes on Saturday, bedtime be damned, but there were enough episodes remaining to convince our practical side to wait. The key driver of tension is not actually whodunnit so much as... who died? Sooo many red herrings, twists and reveals in that department. I also liked the way the story follows the lives of both the suspects and the investigators. Basically, not a single character in the story had the moral high ground. Everyone was flawed. But some characters weren't just flawed -- they were malicious. Karma is a bitch, though. Now for the negatives. The story centers around a new relationship between Oliver and Ciara. That relationship is ultimately the reason for the mystery murder. The two characters keep secrets from each other, one of which is that the "relationship" was planned in advance. But the characters end up legitimately falling in love with each other. Supposedly. I didn't see it, or at least, not enough. I felt like the development of the relationship -- emotionally -- was pre-empted to make way for eroticism, which seemed like a primary goal of the producers. The erotic scenes were just that - erotic - and did little to drive the plot or develop the characters or their relationship. It's also possible that the relationship was difficult to convey without knowing all the facts about the characters. The show is a mystery first and foremost, so we were uninformed about certain things in the histories of these characters, which, had I known while watching the relationship blossom, might have better convinced me. Overall, I'd probably give the series a 7/10. Below are my goals for this week. Literarily, Michelle Goals for 3/2/26 - 3/9/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week - Pending Website Updates - PendingWriting Goals One review per day Mon-Thu - Pending Add content to MichelleTuesday.com/author - Pending Min 30 min/week on current novel - Pending One short story for "The Bradbury" - Pending One themed blog post - See above. Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - In progress. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - TBD |
...because it's the day we celebrate the end of February!   Almost as if my whole body recognizes the achievement, I had a kick-ass night of sleep last night. If you've been here before, you've surely noticed I've been using my blog to keep track of my progress against goals. Even when I blog about something else, I close each post with a goals update. It's just a good place to document daily and weekly successes for future reference (and they should be documented and celebrated!) But I'm struggling a little with the timing. I can't figure out what time of day to post the updates. So, today you get a goodnight post, and tomorrow, I'll probably kick off the week with a shiny new set of goals. Goals update below. Soooo close this week. Goals for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Payroll - Employees = PAID! Website - Updated the Music Lab and Teachers & Staff pages.Writing Goals Create official author website - The bones are there: michelletuesday.com/author Min 30 min/week on current novel - Nope. Didn't happen this week. One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD? I still have two hours.  Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - "Jealousy" - "Ode to Candy" One themed blog post - "Character GMC(S)" One review - Review of "It Works" Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - In progress, but met today's goals. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - March assignment posted. |
| This is an excellent read: "The Notification" . I'm calling the genre "Contemporary Gothic" because I love a good oxymoron. On a related note, Robert Waltz  , you may have met your match in the procrastination department. (You read that correctly: it's definitely a gauntlet.)I told you all a couple weeks ago that my voice was back. I didn't know it at the time, but I meant it was starting to come back. It's been coming and going in the way that summer and winter in Ohio come and go during those seasons we call "spring" and "autumn" - with gradually more coming than going as the weeks press on. Today, I had the full use of my voice for nearly the entire day. And yesterday, I helped a student with his audition monologue for the school musical, and I was able to demonstrate PROJECTING TO THE BACK OF THE ROOM without hurting myself. Parkinson's fucking sucks.  Speaking of projects, my goals update is below. I wrote my first ode today: "Ode to Candy" And as of this posting, I'm 2 for 7 in my current "26 Paychecks " assignment. Still owe a "The Bradbury" submission for the week, but while the month is over in a few hours, the week has yet another day to offer. Literarily, Michelle Goals for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Payroll - I need to process payroll tomorrow. Website - Updated the Music Lab and Teachers & Staff pages.Writing Goals Create official author website - The bones are there: michelletuesday.com/author Min 30 min/week on current novel - TBD One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD, but I did last week's today: "Candy" Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - TBD - "Ode to Candy" (anyone else notice a theme emerging?) One themed blog post - "Character GMC(S)" One review - Review of "The Notification" Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - Day 2 of 7 complete. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - I plan to post another assignment Sunday (which is March 1st, which is tomorrow.) |
| In "October Novel Prep Challenge" , we talk about our character's goal and the conflict that's standing in the way of achieving that goal. In 1996, Debra Dixon invented the GMC Method of Storytelling , which posed another character element critical to any good story: motivation. Where the goal is what your main character wants, their motivation is why they want it. And at some point, someone added an "S" to the end (for "stakes"), and now many authors refer to this storytelling strategy as the "GMCS Method." Either way, the point of the method is to focus on the character as driver of the story. For example, in the micro-fiction story I wrote today for "The Bradbury" ("Candy" ), the main character wants candy. They are motivated by a craving for candy. The conflict is that Mom and Grandma don't want them to ruin their dinner, and the stakes increase when we learn that the character is an insulin-dependent diabetic whose craving was caused by a dropping blood sugar level. Objectively, the main character's goal and motivation drive the plot of this story. What are your thoughts about the impact of character motivation and increasing stakes in storytelling? Do you have examples? If you prefer a plot-driven strategy to storytelling, what arguments can you make in favor of a plot-drive method over a character-driven method? Literarily, Michelle Goals for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Payroll - Caught up as of yesterday. Website - Updated the Music Lab and Teachers & Staff pages.Writing Goals Create official author website - The bones are there! michelletuesday.com/author Min 30 min/week on current novel - TBD One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD, but I did last week's today: "Candy" One themed blog post - See above. One review - I'm ahead by three weeks (2/23,3/2,3/9), but now I have to review seven days in a row for that boss of mine over at "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - In progress. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - I plan to post another assignment Sunday (which is March 1st.) |
| Web News My last business website revision was 2016, so it was way past time. I started building a new one in 2025, finished it summerish, then couldn't easily migrate it. Stymied, I let it sit and cool off for about seven months. I broke it out again sometime in February (it all runs together, see "What the Fork?" for my opinion on February), but there's always a debugging period, so I'm still tweaking. One thing on my list is to go through my 2k+ photos in my media library, eliminate photos I don't need, duplicates (and triplicates... and there are a lot of them), and label the rest for easier searching. That way, when I need a photo of a kid playing a cello, I can search for "cello" instead of "20230821_170847-scaled". I did a bunch of labeling, but that feels like a neverending job....now, don't yell at me over "neverending", dumb spellchecker. *pokes at red squiggles* Everyone knows it's not "The Never-Ending Story". So, in addition to hours and hours of media library cleanup (punctuated by texting ancient photos to friends, moms, and grown-ass kids who used to be adorable five-year-olds), I also updated the "Music Lab" and "Teachers & Staff" pages of my biz website:Music Technology & Learning Lab Teachers & Staff I was on such a roll that I also started working on my author site. I basically just tossed another Wordpress site into a subdirectory on my domain. I went to the media library to look for some photos I could get a headshot out of.... aha! That's how I got sucked into the media library cleanup project. Stupid ADHD. Anyway, the author site currently looks like this: http://michelletuesday.com/author Give it time. It will soon enough look as glorious as the homepage (http://michelletuesday.com). Progress against goals (and a new "Build author website" goal) are below. But first, enjoy 11-year-old Phillip's Music Lab poster. This kid's dad is a professional marketing guru, so Phillip enjoys creating marketing materials for me (see also, the homepage.) Webbily, Michelle  Goals for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26 Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per week Payroll - Caught up on approvals as of yesterday. I'll need to run (process) payroll on March 1st. Website - v.2025 is still a work in progress. Today, I: Cleaned out all the test databases and files from design trial & error. Tweaked the blog page formatting. Storm Machine may notice.  Worked on the media library. Updated the "Music Lab" and "Teachers & Staff" pages.Writing Goals Create official author website- I'm having a hard time finding photos of my without a guitar in hand and mic in front of my face. Min 30 min/week on current novel - TBD One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD and I still owe for last week. One themed blog post - TBD One review - I'm ahead by three weeks (2/23,3/2,3/9). Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - caught up til our new assignment this Thursday. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - I plan to post another assignment Sunday (which is March 1st.) |
| What the Fork? Earned a Quill Award for Best New Forum (thanks for your votes!!  ) and got a shiny new logo and cover art:
Trinket Poll Grab a freebie trinket and cast your vote:
Entertainment Sunday has turned into our official binge day, which is bad because that cuts into my writing and WDC activity time! but good because hubby and I hang with the poochies. Comments about our latest binges/attempts: The Hunting Party One of the worst "As you know, Bob"s I've ever seen in a network production at the end of Episode 2, and it was already cliche anyway. Two thumbs down and no Episode 3 for us. Amish Stud - The Eli Weaver Story (Lifetime movie currently on Netflix) Interesting story, terrible acting. I mean terrible. Nurse Jackie Finally! A winner! Heartwarming and humorous with great characters. Nurse Jackie herself is asking for some trouble with the double life she's leading. Goals for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26 It's time for a Goals adjustment. Changes include: - Reducing novel time to one 30-minute session per week. - Remove "PromptMaster !" goals due to temporary event closure (after this week) - I expect to add a couple more work goals soon. My productivity and focus today were atrocious. I only got four hours of sleep, which is sparse, even for me. Body stiffness is creeping back in, so I need to break out the PT exercises and stretches (and, you know, regular exercise  ) ASAP. I'm also on a different ADHD med (two or three weeks now), and the jury's out. Judging by today, I need a higher dose. But over the weekend I did better. I have another couple weeks to assess before my follow-up with the doc.Thus, I have little to report in the way of goal progress, other than to establish them for the week: Work Goals Review work tasks list 3x per weekWriting Goals Min 30 min/week on current novel - TBD Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - TBD - TBD One short story for "The Bradbury" - TBD and I still owe for last week. One themed blog post - TBD One review - I'm ahead by three weeks (2/23,3/2,3/9). Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - caught up til our new assignment this Thursday. Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - I plan to post another assignment Sunday (which is March 1st.) |
| There's been so much cool news at WDC in the past twenty-four hours that I just don't have much else to say. But I did want to log a quick Goals update for future reference. It's a pretty good goals week. Goals for 2/16/26 - 2/22/26  Min 10 min/day on current novel - Review work tasks list 3 days/week - Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - "Actually, Probably" - "My Voice" One short story for "The Bradbury" - One themed blog post (music/writing) - "What AI Is Good For (or, "Bottom Wiping")" One review - I wrote four, actually, and I've giving myself credit for the next three weeks! (2/23,3/2,3/9)- Review of "The Visit" - Review of "Team Ahimsa Blog Relay, Various Contests" - Review of "A Broken World" - Review of "All Alone" Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - "Unwritten Genre: Military" Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - "Target Audience & Voice" Cheers, Michelle |
| This post was generated by Google Gemini. It was also my first attempt at using "Columns" in the beta editor, and they're currently broken. I'm leaving them that way to file a bug report. I'm happy to report that SM fixed the columns. PROMPT: How did people wipe their bottoms before toilet paper was invented? It turns out that "the good old days" were many things, but "soft and quilted" was definitely not one of them. Before Joseph Gayetty marketed the first commercial toilet paper in 1857, humans were remarkably resourcefulāand occasionally very braveāwith their hygiene.What people used largely depended on two things: where they lived and how much money they had. The "Natural" Approach For the average person throughout history, nature provided the toolkit. If it was within arm's reach and didn't sting, it was fair game.  Leaves and Grass: The most common choice globally. Moss and Ferns: A "premium" natural choice because of their softness and absorbency. Fruit Skins: Specifically citrus peels or husks. Snow: Used by Inuit populations and people in boreal climates (surprisingly effective, if chilling).
Regional Specialties Different cultures developed specific "tools" for the job: Ancient Rome (The Tersorium): In public latrines, Romans used a communal sponge attached to a wooden stick. It was kept in a bucket of strong saltwater or vinegar between uses. Yes, it was shared. Ancient Greece: They used pessoi, which were small stones or pieces of ceramic (broken pottery) smoothed down at the edges. Ancient China: They were actually the pioneers of paper hygiene. As early as the 6th century, scholars mentioned using paper, and by the 14th century, the Ming Dynasty was manufacturing mass-produced, oversized sheets for the imperial family. Colonial America: The corncob was the go-to. Even after newspapers and catalogs became common, many still preferred the "scrubbing power" of a dried cob.
The Rise of "Paper" (Before TP) In the 1700s and 1800s, as literacy and printing increased, people transitioned to "recycled" paper: The Farmersā Almanac: It was intentionally printed with a hole in the corner so it could be hung on a nail in the outhouse. Catalogues: The Sears Roebuck catalog was a legendary bathroom stapleāuntil they started printing on glossy paper in the 1930s, which (to the frustration of many) wasn't nearly as absorbent.
Summary Table Era/Culture Ancient Rome Ancient Greece Coastal Regions Wealthy Elite 19th Century US Material Used Communal sponge on a stick Smooth stones or pottery shards Mussel shells or coconut husks Wool, lace, or hemp Corncobs or Newsprint Comfort Level Low (and risky) Ouch Rough High (for the time) Functional Please list your sources. To give you the "receipts" on these historical hygiene practices, here are the primary archaeological and historical sources that back up those claims: 1. Ancient Rome: The Tersorium (Sponge on a Stick)Source: Seneca the Younger, Moral Letters to Lucilius (Letter 70). * The Evidence: Seneca recounts a story of a Germanic gladiator who committed suicide by shoving a "sponge on a stick used for cleaning excrement" down his throat. Archaeological finds in Ostia (near Rome) also show a running water trough in front of toilets, likely for rinsing these sponges. 2. Ancient Greece: Pessoi (Stones) and Ostraka (Pottery)Source: Philippe Charlier et al., "Toilet Hygiene in the Classical Era," BMJ (British Medical Journal).The Evidence: Researchers identified ceramic shards (pessoi) in ancient latrine pits that were smoothed at the edges to prevent injury. They also noted the use of ostrakaāpottery shards inscribed with names of enemiesāfound in Athens, suggesting a double use for political ostracization and personal hygiene. 3. Ancient China: The First Paper & "Poop Sticks"Source: The History of the Northern Dynasties (written in the 7th century) and the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.The Evidence: Scholar Yan Zhitui (589 AD) famously wrote that he would never use paper with the "names of sages" on it for "toilet purposes." Furthermore, in 1992, archaeologists at the Xuanquanzhi site on the Silk Road found bamboo "hygiene sticks" (cĆØchĆ³u) from the Han Dynasty (111 BCE) with cloth remains containing parasite eggs. 4. Colonial America & Rural West: The CorncobSource: The Old Farmerās Almanac historical archives and anthropological surveys of American folk life.The Evidence: Before modern indoor plumbing, the corncob was the primary tool in American outhouses. It was so common that when toilet paper was first marketed, it was often called "paper corncobs" to help people understand what it was for. 5. 19th-Century Innovation: The Sears CatalogSource: Sears, Roebuck and Co. Corporate History and the University of North Texas Digital Library.The Evidence: Photos and primary accounts from the early 20th century show the Sears catalog hanging in outhouses. The "Marketing Genius" theory holds that Richard Sears intentionally used thinner, softer paper (newsprint style) until the 1930s, when they switched to glossy paper, which was notoriously criticized for being "un-wipable." Key Historical Milestones Milestone Date Reference First Mention of Paper Wiping 589 AD Yan Zhitui's personal notes Mass Production (China) 1393 Ming Dynasty Imperial Bureau of Supplies First Commercial TP (US) 1857 Gayettyās Medicated Paper (Joseph Gayetty) The Perforated Roll 1871 Seth Wheeler's patent |
| Today's post is mostly a goals check-in. If you're not opposed to XGC content, I wouldn't mind one or two more reviews for "Cursed" . If you're a serial novelist, I'm interested in your thoughts about this conversation: "Target Audience & Voice" . Goals are on target. I'm happy with them. Goals for 2/16/26 - 2/22/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel - Review work tasks list 3 days/week - Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - One short story for "The Bradbury" - One themed blog post (music/writing) - I have some ideas clunking around. One review - Review of "The Visit" Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - "Unwritten Genre: Military" Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" - "Target Audience & Voice" Musically, Michelle |
I did a thing:
My first-ever attempt at horror, inspired by "Horror Writing Contest" . Warning! Mind the rating. It's legit. That fulfills last week's short story requirement, so I'm caught up, at least. Also, as a background story in my "The Sprawling Ink Society" project, this story is keeping that project in front of me, even if it doesn't specifically check of any boxes. It may have turned my Druid Archives world a notch or two darker. Today is Tuesday. I have no students on Tuesdays and Sundays, making them my freest and most flexible days. I should be able to get a lot done. Should. Goals for 2/16/26 - 2/22/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel - Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" One short story for "The Bradbury" - not yet, but I submitted last week's today. One themed blog post (music/writing) - One review - Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" |
| Just a quick goals update today. I played in the worship band this morning (rare these days), napped, did my daily gamesbrain exercises, napped, then worked on rereading and editing my current novel project for a few hours. Still no Bradbury story, but I may still crank one out before sleep, after Netflixing with the hubs. Goals for 2/9/26 - 2/15/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel - I made up for it today. I've been editing. Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" One short story for "The Bradbury" One themed blog post (music/writing) - Copyright law One review - Actually, yes, but when I hit "send" WDC had logged me out and I lost it.  Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" |
| As a contest owner, I've been grappling with this. I've tried to remain neutral and avoid rules around AI use in my activities, but fairness is ingrained in my bones. I fully support (and enthusiastically encourage!) AI for brainstorming and wording suggestions. But, in my opinion, once it rewrites what you wrote - tightens your prose, increases your pacing, and changes the voice of the author - even if it doesn't change the story itself, those paragraphs are no longer your original creation. The story is - that's the human element - but not the text. IMO, there's nothing inherently wrong with AI rewriting your work - until you publish it with your byline and stamp it with Ā© Copyright 2026 Brandiwynš¶ v.2026 (tuozzo at Writing.Com), because can you really copyright text you didn't write? In a contest setting, other authors are now competing with AI - and if you didn't disclose the AI rewrite, then your competitors don't even know it. I found an attorney's YouTube channel and a video where she addresses copyrighting in publishing of books where AI was used . In it, she says (2:10-ish) that copyright "protects human creativity, not generated text," and that if you use AI to "brainstorm, outline or organize your own human-created content, then you can copyright the human-created portions of your work." I have no idea who this attorney is, and the video is 10 months old, so I tried to check US copyright law for myself: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/ Part 2 addresses copyrightability of AI-generated text. The summary of findings is on page 8 of the Part 2 report. Relevant bullet points: Copyright protects the original expression in a work created by a human author, even if the work also includes AI-generated material. Whether human contributions to AI-generated outputs are sufficient to constitute authorship must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Human authors are entitled to copyright in their works of authorship that are perceptible in AI-generated outputs, as well as the creative selection, coordination, or arrangement of material in the outputs, or creative modifications of the outputsIn conclusion, that is where I'll draw the line for my competitive WDC events. My non-competitive events will remain neutral - use of AI, and to what extent, is entirely your choice. |
| I missed Main Character Mondays yesterday. Oops. At the music school, the hot water heater died. I got a quote from a plumber to replace it. It's up in the loft above the bathrooms, accessible by ladder in the music lab, and I swear the building was built around the stupid thing. It's surrounded by duct work and rafters, or whatever you call the metal framing that holds up the roof in a retail strip mall. The space was a coffee shop before it was a soccer store before it was a music school, so it had a 50 gallon hot water tank, where we really only need 20. So getting the new one in wasn't a concern, but I did ask about getting the old one out. Quote guy says to me, this isn't our first rodeo. Fast forward to installation today. It was supposed to take a couple hours. They started at 11:00, and at 12:30, they didn't look like they were super close to done, so I confirmed they would be done by 4:00 when the students were scheduled to arrive. They were clearing a clog in the old tank before they could remove it, but he thought it would be about an hour more. 4:00 was no problem at all, supposedly. So I left. Reception contacts me at 3:00. They can't get the old tank out because of all the framing and duct work. ...You don't say. At this point the clock is ticking, so they decide they're going to install the new one, but leave the old one up there, and we could worry about how to get it out later. I'm like, um, are you at all concerned that maybe the combined weight of the old tank plus the weight of the new tank plus water might exceed the weight of the old tank when it was full, which is what the support structure was designed for? (In case you're wondering, which I know you are, I asked during the quote if a permit was required, and rodeo guy said no. I said, even though we're changing the size?, he said nope and assured me that they were licensed and bonded and he knew what he was talking about.) The teachers decided to move the lab out into the lobby temporarily since the plumbers were clearly not going to make the 4:00 deadline. Amazingly, they managed to get the old tank out after all, so I don't have to have heartburn over the weight issue. Then the day got more fun, because the plumbers were unable to test the new water heater. That's because, right around the time they were plumbing it in, a water main broke in our plaza and we lost water to the store completely. According to the landlord, it would be restored by (either 9pm or 6am? Receptionist wasn't totally clear on which.) Which meant we also lost the bathrooms. So reception starts contacting all the students to cancel lessons for the rest of the night (third time in as many weeks, thanks to Snowmaggeddon and Minimaggeddon) and she's about halfway through that when the water comes back on. After the plumbers are gone, of course. So that was work today. I don't have students on Tuesdays, so I worked on the business website (michelletuesday.com, if you're interested - it's still purple) more and wrote my two poems for PromptMaster: For the prompt, "The most suspicious thing likely to make a librarian raise an eyebrow.": "Library Tryst" For the prompt, "Write a poem using a very limited vocabulary that is at least 8 lines long.": "The Band Director's Resignation" Y'all, Jayne truly is the PromptMaster. If you're not already participating, I highly recommend it. Goals are below. G'night, Michelle Goals for 2/10/26 - 2/16/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" One short story for "The Bradbury" One themed blog post (music/writing) One review Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" |
| One of the lesser frequently-asked question among prospective clients of my music school is, "How long will it take for me/my child to master the instrument?" Um. This question never ceases to baffle me. I try to look at it from the perspective of non-musicians who truly have no clue what's involved, but in my imagining, that only makes it worse. Looking from the outside at the task of studying an instrument, with zero music experience, it might seem almost insurmountable. Yet some inquirers seem to believe that learning music has an end date, like it's a crash course: Learn Piano in Just Twelve Weeks! And then you get your certificate, and you're an official Certified Musician. No. I had this conversation with a dad seeking voice and/or piano lessons for his 6-year-old child yesterday. I gave him my typical initial reply, which satisfies less than half the askers of this question: "The study of music is a lifelong endeavor." The parent acknowledged what I was saying, but tried to clarify what he was asking: "Yes, yes, of course. But how long until she can do it on her own?" I understood exactly what he meant the first time. What he really wanted to know is, How much is this going to cost me? He's just trying to budget, and I get it. Being a parent is expensive. I can't answer his question, though, because... it depends. It depends on how quickly your daughter learns. It depends on how much she practices, which depends on how much she loves it and how much you enforce it at home. It depends on whether she reliably attends her lessons every week, and whether you stay consistently enrolled or withdraw every summer for travel. Most importantly, it depends on your definition of mastery. That's my favorite part of these conversations - the client can't define mastery to pin down what their question even is. They flounder and reword and shrug helplessly and expect me to define it for them, for me to explain what the end of learning looks like - because isn't that the question they're asking, after all? Musicians with PhD's on their instrument are still learning. How long does it take to master a language? I don't know about you, but at age 50, I'm still learning English, which is my native language. How long does it take to master the art of writing? The mechanics of writing? The business of writing? The marketing of writing? We. Are. All. Still. Learning. Hopefully, I have successfully answered the question, and you now know exactly how long it takes to master an instrument. I'll close with a short (<2min) video about learning. With my apologies, it's a YouTube Short and cannot be embedded: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zpR6AEKAZuc Educationally, Michelle Min 10 min/day on current novel Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" One short story for "The Bradbury" One themed blog post (music/writing) One review Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" |
| I technically finished my story for "The Bradbury" after midnight (00:09? maybe), but I counted it, so here's the status of yesterday's goals: Goals for 2/2/26 - 2/9/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" One short story for "The Bradbury" One themed blog post (music/writing) One review Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" It's Friday morning. I have a packed schedule today because of all the rescheduled lessons from Snowmaggeddon last week. And now Mini-maggeddon is dumping more snow. I ventured out into it to meet the plumber at the music school, but after painstakingly making it past emergency vehicles and cars in ditches to the halfway point of my commute, I realized I forgot to reattach my insulin pump after my shower. I left it on the nightstand back at home. Soooo, I painstakingly made it back home and decided not to venture out a second time. Damn, this is a snowy year. I guess on the bright side, the bugs won't be as bad this summer? |
| Goals for 2/2/26 - 2/9/26 Min 10 min/day on current novel Review work tasks list 3 days/week Two poems for "PromptMaster !" - in progress One short story for "The Bradbury" One themed blog post (music/writing/etc.) One review Current assignment for "26 Paychecks " - in progress (1 of 3 complete) Current assignment for "The Sprawling Ink Society" Health Notes - My voice is coming back! After Botox injections in my vocal cords exactly 3 weeks ago, I've been weak and breathy - sometimes unable to speak even louder than a whisper. I've been wearing a personal amplifier that tour guides and fitness instructors use. The initial spike has finally worn off, and today, I was even able to speak loudly a couple times. - Left toes have been curled a lot today, probably bc I missed my 5pm dose of my Parkinson's med. Sleeping with the toe separator sock tonight. - Lost the 5+ lbs I had gained in Mexico in November, and I wasn't really trying, so keeping an eye on it. It's a good thing, unless it's a bad thing. I should have a lot more time tomorrow for knocking things off the list. G'night, everyone! Cheers, Michelle |
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