{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"Dianne Thomas","home_page_url":"https://diannethomas.net","description":"Dianne Thomas","author":{"name":"Dianne Thomas"},"items":[{"id":"kicking-the-bucket-list","html_content":"

April 24 is National Bucket List Day...and I find myself wondering if I'm the only Boomer on this continent who doesn't have one.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/kicking-the-bucket-list","title":"Kicking the bucket list","date_modified":"2026-04-24T00:50:10Z"},{"id":"i-may-have-started-something-or-not","html_content":"

Way back in the 20th century, probably about the time I first logged on to the internet, I wrote this little note to myself ...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/i-may-have-started-something-or-not","title":"I may have started something ... or not","date_modified":"2026-03-24T14:25:54Z"},{"id":"warning-signs","html_content":"

My latest round of file cleaning resulted in the disposal of 278 items. Sometimes I found 20 drafts of the same poem or story. There were also multiple duplicates and a few empty file folders I didn't remember creating.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/warning-signs","title":"Warning signs","date_modified":"2026-03-18T15:25:24Z"},{"id":"the-sound-of-silence","html_content":"

\"If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one to hear it, does it make a sound?\"

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/the-sound-of-silence","title":"The sound of silence?","date_modified":"2026-03-03T16:47:55Z"},{"id":"ah-yes-i-remember-it-well","html_content":"

\"Until You Come Back to Me\" -- Aretha Franklin

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/ah-yes-i-remember-it-well","title":"Ah yes! I remember it well!","date_modified":"2026-02-22T14:45:12Z"},{"id":"not-so-fresh-off-the-boat","html_content":"

For starters, let me tell you that I have nothing against old Polish ladies. I am an old Polish lady. That may be why old Polish ladies feel comfortable complaining to me about \"those people...\" meaning immigrants who d...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/not-so-fresh-off-the-boat","title":"Not so fresh off the boat","date_modified":"2026-02-10T21:05:36Z"},{"id":"cold-hard-coincidence","html_content":"

I had just finished posting a poem about glaciers when I turned on the TV and started flipping channels. Within three clicks I tuned in to a children's show I never watch and heard the word \"glacier.\"

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/cold-hard-coincidence","title":"Cold, hard coincidence","date_modified":"2026-01-27T17:26:29Z"},{"id":"a-different-seasonal-offering","html_content":"

Ah the holidays, a time for family, friends, festivity, and the flu.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/a-different-seasonal-offering","title":"A different seasonal offering","date_modified":"2026-01-03T17:00:00Z"},{"id":"festivus-for-the-rest-of-us","html_content":"

One of the things I miss about not having a car is a ritual I observed for many years. It began by accident, as things often do, on a night in December when I decided to avoid rush hour traffic by driving a portion of th...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/festivus-for-the-rest-of-us","title":"Festivus for the rest of us","date_modified":"2025-12-21T14:42:14Z"},{"id":"a-craving-for-cozy","html_content":"

A few years back I wrote a vignette I called \"Cozy.\" I think about it often, especially when the air outside turns chilly and it's time to turn on the furnace and make the bed with the electric blanket.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/a-craving-for-cozy","title":"A craving for cozy","date_modified":"2025-12-01T21:00:00Z"},{"id":"food-for-thought","html_content":"

There was a time when I made it a point to write every day, even when I have nothing in particular in mind. As a result, I have a file drawer full of notebooks full of handwritten entries. Sometimes I find something inte...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/food-for-thought","title":"Food for thought","date_modified":"2025-10-17T15:47:21Z"},{"id":"the-roots-of-evil","html_content":"

There's a metaphor here.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/the-roots-of-evil","title":"The roots of evil","date_modified":"2025-10-09T12:00:00Z"},{"id":"unplugged","html_content":"

In the Before Time (my term for the years before the pandemic) I often craved solitude.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/unplugged","title":"Unplugged","date_modified":"2025-10-08T12:00:00Z"},{"id":"reawakening","html_content":"

While my current WIP is on temporary hold, I've been going over my older files, trying to keep my brains cells in creative mode.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/reawakening","title":"Reawakening","date_modified":"2025-10-07T14:25:54Z"},{"id":"sometimes-i-just-need-to-keep-going","html_content":"

These days--when I get too bogged down by the news of the day and the obligations of everyday life to do anything creative--I go through my old files and see what I have that can be worked on, and what can go into the re...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/sometimes-i-just-need-to-keep-going","title":"Sometimes I just need to keep going","date_modified":"2025-06-18T13:11:52Z"},{"id":"happy-st-patricks-day","html_content":"

I was in my early twenties when I realized that mid-March was often a turbulent time in my life. Frequently I found myself looking for a new job, moving to a new home, or entering or leaving a relationship. Sometimes it ...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/happy-st-patricks-day","title":"Happy St. Patrick's Day","date_modified":"2024-03-11T14:00:00Z"},{"id":"not-really-a-poem","html_content":"

It's one of those days when I don't feel like writing or editing, but I also don't want to sit watching TV and playing Angry Birds.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/not-really-a-poem","title":"Not really a poem","date_modified":"2024-02-29T17:36:41Z"},{"id":"starring","html_content":"

Today I came across a post that posed a question:

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/starring","title":"Starring ...","date_modified":"2024-02-19T21:20:48Z"},{"id":"i-shlouda-looked-up","html_content":"

\"Above the entrance ... are four elephant heads—each with a trunk that wraps around a metal flagpole.\"

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/i-shlouda-looked-up","title":"I didn't look up","date_modified":"2024-02-12T15:00:00Z"},{"id":"too-much","html_content":"

I usually look forward to seeing things I've created published someplace besides my own website or Amazon offerings. But a few months back I responded to a writing prompt and got a positive response I didn't care to sha...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/too-much","title":"Too much","date_modified":"2024-02-05T16:24:04Z"},{"id":"tales-from-long-ago","html_content":"

Every now and then I'm glad that the internet didn't exist when I was starting out as a writer. I've been able to make my mistakes in private.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/tales-from-long-ago","title":"Tales from long ago","date_modified":"2024-01-20T17:41:26Z"},{"id":"a-poem-comes-true-again","html_content":"

Back on November 10, 2021 I wrote:

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/a-poem-comes-true-again","title":"A poem comes true... again","date_modified":"2024-01-15T14:35:00Z"},{"id":"incense-alice-peppermints-patchouli","html_content":"

Recently the song \"Year of the Cat\" song popped up in my feed while I was working out and it sent me on a trip down memory lane.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/incense-alice-peppermints-patchouli","title":"Incense, Alice, peppermints, patchouli","date_modified":"2023-12-18T14:00:00Z"},{"id":"the-road","html_content":"

Earlier this year I made a decision to deal with all my writing files. I've been pretty good about doing what I set out to do: finish it and publish it, or throw it out.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/the-road","title":"The Road","date_modified":"2023-12-11T15:21:54Z"},{"id":"a-whisper-of-thunder","html_content":"

Some years ago I found—among the many bits of paper that are way too much a part of my life—a sheet of white paper bearing scattered notes in different colors of ink and pencil. The paper was folded in half. On one side ...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/a-whisper-of-thunder","title":"\"A Whisper of Thunder\"","date_modified":"2023-12-04T14:08:39Z"},{"id":"on-any-given-sunday","html_content":"

I’m still going through old files and now and then coming up with some surprises.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/on-any-given-sunday","title":"On any given Sunday","date_modified":"2023-11-24T18:52:48Z"},{"id":"thanks-for-the-memory-nbc","html_content":"

I hope you've already read this week's highlight, \"My Dinner with Joe.\" 

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/thanks-for-the-memory-nbc","title":"Thanks for the memory, NBC ","date_modified":"2023-11-15T14:37:12Z"},{"id":"pulling-the-tab-on-history","html_content":"

I'm down to the final edits on a work of fiction that takes place in 1970 ... a year I thought I remembered well.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/pulling-the-tab-on-history","title":"Pulling the tab on history","date_modified":"2023-10-29T16:10:08Z"},{"id":"just-a-meme","html_content":"

When I'm on a writing binge, I can't seem to do much of anything else. I love it when a project is so hot in my mind, I can't even update my website. I'm on such a binge now, but today I came up for air long enough to po...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/just-a-meme","title":"Just a meme","date_modified":"2023-10-16T14:57:49Z"},{"id":"random-thoughts-preserved","html_content":"

By now lots of folks have heard of death cleaning and know it's not something you see on Law and Order, or CSI. So when I talk about death writing, my friends know I'm not talking about working on a murder mystery. But I...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/random-thoughts-preserved","title":"Random thoughts revisited","date_modified":"2023-09-15T14:00:00Z"},{"id":"%E2%80%9Cit%E2%80%99s-a-shame-%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D","html_content":"

There’s a line in that song by The Spinners … “I’m sitting all alone by the telephone waiting for your call … but you don’t call at all …”

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/%E2%80%9Cit%E2%80%99s-a-shame-%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D","title":"“It’s a Shame …” ","date_modified":"2023-07-30T13:32:33Z"},{"id":"now-what","html_content":"

Last week I arrived at a turning point in my writing life. I finished the first draft of a novel I began writing back in the 20th century.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/now-what","title":"Now what?","date_modified":"2023-07-03T19:15:51Z"},{"id":"of-memes-and-moonbeams","html_content":"

When I'm on a writing binge, I can't seem to do much of anything else. I love it when a project is so hot in my mind, I can't even update my website. I'm on such a binge now, but today I came up for air long enough to po...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/of-memes-and-moonbeams","title":"Sorry I haven't written ...","date_modified":"2023-06-18T14:00:00Z"},{"id":"the-girl-who-would-be-king","html_content":"

I'm several weeks older than King Charles III of England and used to joke that 70-some years ago, Charles Windsor and I were switched in heaven.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/the-girl-who-would-be-king","title":"The girl who would be king","date_modified":"2023-05-06T22:35:27Z"},{"id":"national-poetry-month","html_content":"

I'm the first to admit I'm not a very prolific blogger. It's not that I don't have a lot to say ... it's just that I don't like to put every thought I have out into the world as part of a blog.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/national-poetry-month","title":"National Poetry Month","date_modified":"2023-04-01T16:26:19Z"},{"id":"more-truths-and-the-same-lie","html_content":"

Last year I published a blog post called \"Seven truths and a lie,\" listing a few of the more remarkable things I've experienced in my life. It was based on a game called “Two Truths and a Lie” that people sometimes use a...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/more-truths-and-the-same-lie","title":"More truths and the same lie","date_modified":"2023-02-05T20:34:37Z"},{"id":"looking-out-to-look-in","html_content":"

Full disclosure: I'm still recovering from the flu and don't have anything new or clever to write about. So I'm sharing a piece I published during another winter season.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/looking-out-to-look-in","title":"Looking out to look in","date_modified":"2023-01-07T05:00:00Z"},{"id":"spoiler-alert","html_content":"

I hope you've already read this week's highlight, \"My Dinner with Joe.\"

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/spoiler-alert","title":"Spoiler alert","date_modified":"2022-11-13T13:27:57Z"},{"id":"first-amendment-my-2-cents","html_content":"

Full disclosure: Much of this post is a redo of a rerun. But not much has changed, and that which has has changed for the worse.

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/first-amendment-my-2-cents","title":"Election time revisited","date_modified":"2022-11-06T12:00:00Z"},{"id":"seven-truths-and-a-lie","html_content":"

There’s a game called “Two Truths and a Lie” that people sometimes use as an ice-breaker at parties or meetings. When I’ve played it, I usually keep the truths simple because people tend to disbelieve some of the really ...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/seven-truths-and-a-lie","title":"Seven truths and a lie","date_modified":"2022-10-26T14:09:07Z"},{"id":"memories-of-a-dreamless-sleep","html_content":"

I had a pretty cool dream last night, but I won't detail it here. I mention it only because thinking about the dream (OK, it was about finding a great place to live in a town I'd never heard of and which probably doesn't...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/memories-of-a-dreamless-sleep","title":"Memories of a dreamless sleep ","date_modified":"2022-10-17T13:00:00Z"},{"id":"a-book-and-its-cover","html_content":"

Most book lovers don't need a special occasion to enjoy reading, but just in case ... September 6 is National Read a Book Day. I'll try to celebrate, even though my eye condition (too complicated to explain here) makes r...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/a-book-and-its-cover","title":"National Read a Book Day","date_modified":"2022-09-04T16:00:00Z"},{"id":"sliding-into-memory","html_content":"

You never know what encounter will stay dormant in your mind for decades, then pop up when something you hear on the radio or in conversation or on TV will slide it into prominence ... and with luck, bring a laugh or a s...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/sliding-into-memory","title":"Sliding into memory","date_modified":"2022-08-29T13:43:37Z"},{"id":"sunshine-coffee-and-a-baby-brother","html_content":"

The first memory to which I can put a date is August 4, 1951. I was going on three years old. I stood in the hallway of my grandmother’s house with my ear to the telephone staring at a patch of sunlight on the wooden flo...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/sunshine-coffee-and-a-baby-brother","title":"Sunshine, coffee, and a baby brother","date_modified":"2022-08-04T13:28:01Z"},{"id":"distracted-by-shiny-things","html_content":"

It's a phrase I've often used in my work life, usually to encourage my staff or team mates to focus. \"Let's not get distracted by shiny things,\" I'd say. Usually when someone would let some extraneous bit of stuff allow ...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/distracted-by-shiny-things","title":"Distracted by shiny things","date_modified":"2022-07-25T15:28:02Z"},{"id":"%E2%80%9C9-words-removed-from-the-dictionary%E2%80%9D","html_content":"

I saw the online headline last fall and felt a loss even though it turned out I’d never used a single one of the nine words defined (perhaps for the last time) in the article: https://www.wordgenius.com/10-words-that-hav...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/%E2%80%9C9-words-removed-from-the-dictionary%E2%80%9D","title":"“9 Words Removed From the Dictionary” ","date_modified":"2022-05-13T13:58:57Z"},{"id":"the-more-things-change-the-more-they-change","html_content":"

Facebook reminded me today that 10 years ago, I was on top ... almost. The post read, \"Googled myself again, just to make sure I'm still in the top 10. I'm #2 ... woo hoo!\"

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/the-more-things-change-the-more-they-change","title":"Fame is fleeting, sort of","date_modified":"2022-04-28T14:00:00Z"},{"id":"to-blog-or-not-to-blog","html_content":"

During the years I've maintained a website I have started and abandoned a blog several times. I do keep journals, but unlike a lot of bloggers I don't seem to have the urge to put something out every day, or week, or eve...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/to-blog-or-not-to-blog","title":"To blog or not to blog","date_modified":"2022-04-05T14:32:22Z"},{"id":"small-change","html_content":"

When I first encountered “rental” shopping carts at grocery stores, I was appalled. How dare they not provide me with a free cart?! But over time I grew less offended, especially when I discovered that the prices at my f...

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/small-change","title":"Small change ","date_modified":"2022-02-27T19:40:17Z"},{"id":"not-so-golden-girls","html_content":"

A while back I met a new online friend and discovered a great writer. Aruni Wijesinghe is the sister of a real-life friend who shared this link on Facebook:

","url":"https://diannethomas.net/extra-stuff/f/not-so-golden-girls","title":"Not so golden girls","date_modified":"2022-01-13T18:35:12Z"}]}