Little Italy (Photo credit: Mike_fleming)
The Old Soldier got his pension check by snail mail from Giant Eagle today. So, after my morning routine of breathing and stretching exercises (karaoke at Nico’s in Little Italy this Saturday), putting up an earlier post, eating, doing a little apartment cleaning, I walked to Armand’s.
Armand’s is in Little Italy, too. It’s an overcast day of slight rain. The high in the low 60s. I sat at the bar and drank my can of beer, ate some potato chips and watched what was on the television.
There was nothing worth watching on the television; but I had sat down next to a woman who needed to talk.
There were only a few people at the bar. It was around two in the afternoon. Retirees (like myself), people who work the night shift, the unemployed and people down on their luck come into Armand’s in the morning and stay until afternoon. This woman was down on her luck.
Giant Eagle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
She was not young. She was thin. I listened to her story.
She had just gotten out of the hospital and she was homeless. And yes she was drinking beer. A friend of hers came in. He had just gotten out of a homeless shelter. After a time they left.
Many years ago, for a short period of time, I was homeless.
I had another beer and stared at the television. Got a six-pack of beer to go and I walked back to my apartment in a light rain.
I felt very lucky.
English: A pile of potato chips. These are Utz-brand, grandma’s kettle-cooked style. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
*****
The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is a blog of creative writing and brazen sexuality. This blog is published near the University of Pittsburgh.
Related articles
- A Writer Goes Out On The Town Friday Night (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Many Everyday Women Love The “Idea” Of Doing Porn (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
Filed under: Life In Pittsburgh | Tagged: blog, creative writing, ideas, Karaoke, Little Italy, Nico's, Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, sexuality, University of Pittsburgh, writer | 2 Comments »
Writer’s Block Is Good For You
Woman As Art
Stuck? Every idea turns into a blind alley? There’s no light at the end of the tunnel?
Forget about it!
Take it from the Old Soldier: And this too shall pass. Your imagination is just taking a rest. There’s no need to beat yourself up or to feel inadequate. Writer’s block is something that a writer gets, like a cold.
I’ve survived every cold I’ve every had and so have you (since you’re reading this).
So, forget about writing for a while. Just go live your life. And then one day soon: Eureka!
This is the Old Soldier reporting from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
*****
The discouraged Nenene suffering from writer’s block continues to lament the disappearance of Yomiko (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Radio
Classical music
Soon all the trees will be bare
I doze on the couch
*****
Check the front page for the latest updates. The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette is an online magazine of serious writing and brazen sexuality.
Related articles
Rate this:
Filed under: Commentaries | Tagged: ideas, imagination, life, Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, radio, sex, writer's block, writing | Leave a Comment »