Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: He decided, right then and there, that he was going to ...

Word Prompt: Poster

Random Object: A pink chiffon dress

Quote: I name my houseplants. I also name pets, small human spawn, and offer alternative names (read: NICK-names) to those I feel affectionately of. Any questions?

Suggested Reading: Albus

Suggested Listening: War at Home -- Josh Groban

Today's Stumble: Lavender Dreaming

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "I can't find any more words."

Word Prompt: Calamity.

Random Object: An ivy plant named Simon.

Quote: I'd rather work and not get paid than leave you in a position where you're going to get in trouble.

Suggested Reading: Something in another language.

Suggested Listening: Love Song -- Demi Lovatto

Today's Stumble: Lincoln's Red Velvet Cheesecake

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "That would be best."

Word Prompt: Lunch.

Random Object: Acne medication

Quote: "I don't mean to, but sometimes, I scare people. Not because I'm mean, but because I'm really, really, REALLY happy."

Suggested Reading: Grimm's Fairytales.

Suggested Listening: The Tangled Soundtrack

Today's Stumble: Burning Man 2010 Photographs

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "I fully intend to get laid tonight."

Word Prompt: Magic

Random Object: A jar of peaches

Quote: "There is a state of happiness where everything just becomes ... giggly."

Suggested Reading: There's Joy in Sadness

Suggested Listening: Higher Window - Josh Groban

Today's Stumble: Cool Gadgets For Creative Offices

Today's Inspiration - New Bat-Time, Same Bat-Place!

Sentence Prompt: There was nothing wrong with that assumption.

Word Prompt: Mug

Random Object: A half-empty role of tape

Quote: "I'm a happy sort of person, so I don't particularly care if you bump me out of line a few times."

Suggested Reading: Days

Suggested Listening: Spinal Thread: Day 2

Today's Stumble: What Love Is, As Told By Children Between The Ages Of Four And Eight


I'm going to start posting these little nuggets of inspiration every morning before I go to work.

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "I am deeply sorry."

Word Prompt: Cure

Random Object: Double Bubble Bubblegum

Quote: "There's no such thing as "Good" anymore. It has been replaced by varying levels of "Suck."

Suggested Reading: Coffee Cove

Suggested Listening: God Doesn't Make Mistakes

Today's Stumble: The Urban Speaker

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: There stood a man and beside him, a ...

Word Prompt: Insert

Random Object: Authentic Turkish Delight

Quote: "Considering the fact that my work is my life, it's strange that I don't have [ a life ] anymore."

Suggested Reading: An Anthology of Poetry (pick one and read it.)

Suggested Listening: Feelin' Good -- Michael Buble's Version

Today's Stumble: East Of The Web: Short Stories

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "Happy Post-Halloween Candy Coma!"

Word Prompt: Metempirical

Random Object: A blank cheque.

Quote: "When you start writing fanfiction about your own life, you know that it is time to get some fresh air."

Suggested Reading: The Analects of Confucius

Suggested Listening: I Am The Walrus -- The Beatles

Today's Stumble: What One Trillion Dollars Looks Like

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: She was a mess.

Word Prompt: Darkness

Random Item: An empty energy drink can

Quote: You can't have a life until you accept that life's bound to end eventually.

Suggested Reading: Creative Writing For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Suggested Listening: Dance in the Dark -- Lady Gaga

Today's Stumble: Top 10 Things Every Budding Foodie Should Know


Did you notice my new pages? Keep an eye out for yet ANOTHER new page that's about to be posted containing links that no writer should ever be without. I'm also terribly sorry that this post is so late today. I'm thinking that midnight postings will be better for my sanity and for y'all as well.

What do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know when YOU think I should update!

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "Happy Halloween!"

Word Prompt: Now

Random Item: Body butter

Quote: If you haven't given yourself permission to write badly, you haven't given yourself permission to write at all.

Suggested Reading: Lifehack: 50 Tools Which Can Help You In Writing

Suggested Listening: Spinal Thread: A NaNoWriMo Feature of the Doing Nothing But Drinking Tea Podcast. Today's Episode: The Pre-Game Warm-Up

Today's Stumble: The Most Frightening Bridge Ever

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "There's nothing to say."

Word Prompt: Drawing

Random Item: A remote control.

Quote: If I tell you that you need to shut up, it isn't my way of suggesting that you need to talk more.

Suggested Reading: Twain's Rules of Writing

Suggested Listening: Sarah Kay Steals The Show

Today's Stumble: A Day In California

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "It isn't an infection."

Word Prompt: God

Random Item: A movie poster.

Quote: If you freak yourself out, then you really shouldn't expect sympathy when you've ended up freaking out over nothing. When you don't freak out over something major, you don't deserve praise either.

Suggested Reading: Angels and Demons -- Dan Brown

Suggested Listening: Jumper -- Third Eye Blind

Today's Stumble: The Frenemy.com: Your Life Is Not A Movie


So, here's a bit of background about the Random Item addition that I tossed into the mixing pot a few days ago. I have a fedora that's full of little slips of paper.

On these little slips of paper are the names of random objects. There are approximately two hundred of these little slips of paper (printed out in size 9 Times New Roman and painstakingly cut out by hand) in the fedora.

Now, when I'm feeling incredibly stressed out over a scene that's just not going anywhere, I pick out a slip of paper and no matter what it is or what my characters are doing or where they are, I find a way to use the item in the scene and that usually gets me going again.

So take one of the random items and use it in a scene. You might just figure out something useful.

Today's Inspiration (x2)

Sentence Prompt: The girl with the red devil tail pulled her cellphone out of her bra and proceeded to make a call.

Sentence Prompt: "Are you sure you saw a vampire and NOT an Edward wannabe?"

Word Prompt: Jump

Word Prompt: Hide

Random Item: A tabby cat.

Random Item: A piece of Grasshopper pie.

Quote: Love is going to be hard. Love is going to hurt. Love is going to suck.

Quote: It doesn't take much to ruin my day.

Suggested Listening: Macavity The Mystery Cat -- Andrew Lloyd Webber

Suggested Listening: Baby You Can Drive My Car -- The Beatles

Suggested Reading: A Found Note

Suggested Reading: Days

Today's Stumble: Real "Sybil" Admits Multiple Personalities Were Fake

Yesterday's Stumble: Quote V. Reality




So this is a double-dose of inspiration to make up for last night. My computer is verging on DEAD, so it's a pretty herculean effort that I was able to get this up and going before work.

I might not get another inspirational post out tonight and if I don't, I apologize, and I'll give you another double-dose tomorrow morning.

Have a good night and good luck with your last minute preparations for NaNoWriMo!

~Emily Grace

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: It felt like pins and needles, only it wasn't.

Word Prompt: Hum

Random Item: Antique brooch.

Quote: Every day that you wake up, you decide right when you get out of bed what kind of day it is going to be, so make the effort to be positive right from the get-go. You'll like the results.

Suggested Reading: Onward by Howard Schultz

Suggested Listening: Adia -- Sarah Mclachlan

Today's Stumble: Do As One: Universal Breathing Room

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "Pardon me, Mr. Kettle, but I have some concerns about your current hue."

Word Prompt: Rick-Roll'd

Quote: Beauty isn't just skin deep. Anybody can be beautiful on the outside, but it takes real strength and real work to be beautiful on the inside too.

Suggested Reading: 10 of History's Biggest HIV-Positive Celebrities

Suggested Listening: Better Than Revenge -- Taylor Swift

Today's Stumble: Family Kitchen: Nutella Mug Cake

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "Used underwear?"

Word Prompt: Unicorn

Quote: I'm sorry about earlier.

Suggested Reading AND Listening: Stone Telling: The Changeling's Lament by Shira Lipkin

Today's Stumble: Dear Blank Please Blank (The initial text is in what I believe is German, but the pictures are why I've chosen it as Today's Stumble.)

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: There was an alien the size of a grape hiding in the produce section.

Word Prompt: Cracker

Quote: When you do arts and crafts, you're doing more than just making something pretty.

Suggested Reading: Jaclyn JK's Rambles From Insanity Blog

Suggested Listening: The (Free) Podcast Version of Today ...

Today's Stumble: What's the square root of sustainability? This Coke bottle.

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "What's a ninja?"

Word Prompt: Alcohol

Quote: Crazy is only as bad as Not Crazy on a bad day.

Suggested Reading: Bram Stoker's Dracula

Suggested Listening: Yellow Submarine -- The Beatles

Today's Stumble: Cutest Fistbump Ever

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: When the phone began to ring ...

Word Prompt: Powder

Quote: Sometimes, there's nothing you can do but stand there and stare. You'll feel helpless and lost and lonely and you'll feel like crap because that's all you can do. All that you can possibly do when you're feeling like that is hope that somebody else knows what to do, and pray that they're willing to do it. -- Emily Grace Lamontagne

Suggested Reading: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Suggested Listening: As The World Falls Down - David Bowie

Today's Stumble: Extremely Well-Captured Animal Photographs By Steve

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: "You delving into my sticky messes does not sound cool."

Word Prompt: Happy

Quote: Be faithful in small things, for it is in them that your strength lies. -- Mother Theresa

Suggested Reading: A Post From My Blog

Suggested Listening: Going In For The Kill -- La Roux

Today's Stumble: Clothes From Milk



Today, I had an absolutely amazing day, and I reached out and made every effort to make the lives of the people around me more positive. The responses I got were unique and uplifting, and they made me feel even BETTER than I already did. What have you done lately to make the people around you happy?

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: When he stopped to catch his breath, he realized something.

Word Prompt: Hammer

Quote: Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made. -- George Burns

Suggested Reading: 60 Ways To Make Life Simple Again

Suggested Listening: Love Games -- Lady Gaga

Today's Stumble: (Youtube Clip) Bertrand Russell's Message To The Future



Today, instead of going shopping or buying your gourmet coffee and luxury piece of bread for $6, collect some fallen leaves, odds and ends from your kitchen's Random Drawer (every kitchen has one, so figure out which one yours is and grab something interesting from it) and find some sort of adhesive so you can make a craft. You won't regret not going out today when you're done.

Even if it looks like crap, you can point to it and say, "That's what I did today." Whatever it looks like, that piece of art is what every writer's first draft looks like. Cobbled together out of odds and ends, arranged artfully and created with love and dedication. Probably not very pretty, and definitely not worthy of hanging in a gallery, but containing promise and a certain charm that makes you realize that, yeah it's so-so now, but what about in a few drafts ...?

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: Sometimes, it's about fear.

Word Prompt: Eat

Quote: Beauty is only temporary, but your mind lasts you a lifetime. -- Alicia Machado

Suggested Reading: I'm Ready To Tell This Story Now

Suggested Listening: Borderline -- Madonna

Today's Stumble: Sarah Kay: If I Should Have A Daughter

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: She stared at the hands of the clock as they ceased to move, praying that a dead battery was to blame.

Word Prompt: Moonshine.

Quote: Coffee in England is just toasted milk. -- Cristopher Fry

Suggested Reading: To Kill A Mockingbird -- Harper Lee

Suggested Listening: The "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" Soundtrack

Today's Stumble: BBC Nature

Today's Inspiration

Sentence Prompt: She seated herself in the spider's living room.

Word Prompt: Bubbles

Quote: A cat that jumps on a hot stove will never jump on a hot stove again. Neither will it jump on a cold stove. -- Michael Cameron

Suggested Reading: 7 Classic Disney Movies That Taught Us Terrible Lessons on cracked.com

Suggested Listening: Lights -- Coldplay

Today's Stumble: PABLO NERUDA - Love

Over 1,000 views!? Oh, and Today's Inspiration

I was looking through my old blogs and I decided to check out the stats. Even after several months of hiatus, there was over 1,000 views. If that many of you are either looking for new updates or mining the old ones for more inspiration, there must be SOMETHING I was doing right ... right? Well, I'm back. And I've got more inspiration for you, just in time for NaNoWriMo 2011! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, The Happy Notes Inspirational Blog is once again a daily-updating site!

And without further ado, here's today's inspiration.




Sentence Prompt: There is a man wearing a funny hat.

Word Prompt: Wine

Suggested Listening: Nightingale -- Yanni

Suggested Reading: The Theory Train

Quote: What is history but a fable agreed upon? -- Napoleon Bonaparte

Stumble of the Day: The Change Blog (10 Ways to Skyrocket Your Happiness)

Daily Inspiration

Prompt: "Well, wouldja look at that? I'm still alive!"

Suggested Listening: What if God Was One of Us? - Alanis Morisette

Quote: I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. - Albert Einstein