Earwig Mash-up

A couple of weeks ago there was a discussion about earwigs happening on one of the writing lists I belong to. Evidently one of the ladies there had something in her ear and when she washed it out, an earwig came swimming out. Of course one of the gents had to pop in with his earwig story--waking up in the middle of the night with excruciating pinching happening in his ear. Turns out he had an earwig in there too.

Two nights ago I was taking a bath when--you guessed it--an earwig scrambled up the shower curtain. Thankfully I had a couple of books on hand to mash it with. Everywhere I turn I find earwigs this year, insects I hadn't seen much of since I was a kid in Washington.

My nine year old is terrified of them. Well, he's terrified of bugs in general, but he let out a rather girly scream this afternoon when he walked down the stairs and saw one on the wall. I mashed it pretty quickly, but all of the earwig stories and action have created a problem.

See, I've got this really active imagination--probably overactive--and now I can't sleep at night for fear of an earwig crawling inside. I've taken to sleeping with cotton balls stuffed in my ears for protection, which of course makes it hard to hear my alarm clock go off in the morning. *sigh* A girl just can't win, can she.

On a positive note, I've finally started writing again, but not what I'd been planning on. I've played with an idea for ten years or more and never had the courage to write it--a non-fiction piece, which is a form I am completely unfamiliar with. I'm shooting in the dark here and only hoping I can make it right, and it's all thanks to a book I finished on Sunday by Abel Keough, called Room for Two. I'll be reviewing it tomorrow, so come back for the review, but I'm telling you, that story has inspired me in many, many ways. It's got me writing again, which is something I've lacked for two years. In the past three days I've written over 4,000 words. I thought that was a pretty good start. I'm very grateful to have some inspiration and courage again, so keep rooting for me, everybody. I can use it!

Quote of the day: "You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke."

~Arthur Polotnik