Anyone who is my friend, knows to be patient. I can go for years without talking to people, but that doesn’t mean, in my mind at least, that the friendship no longer exists.
Tuesday Use It In A Sentence is brought to you by MLW. Click on the link to join in! https://awordadventure.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/tuesdayuseitinasentence-friendship/ It’s fun!
I took this picture last year.
the original
I love it, but I felt like it needed something extra done with it. My camera washed the scene out; while it looks hazily romantic, it’s not clear enough to see what was there.
Here’s what I came up with: first, I darkened it to make it look closer to the actual scene.
Then, just for fun, I took the colour out of it.
I like the way the swans pop out of the picture in this last one.
Which do you prefer?
For this week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge, the prompt was “Into the woods”, giving you a pretty broad theme of trees, woodlands, forests, leaves, anything arboreal in fact. You can find it by clicking
here.
I learned a lot from both of my A to Z Challenges.
First, I wasn’t sure I had enough material to pull off the theme I chose for this blog, which was parenting a Deaf child as a hearing mother. I was afraid I’d repeat myself. I don’t think I did. In the process of writing it, I also learned that what I do without really thinking about it on a daily basis is extraordinary. Not to say that I believe myself to be special, but like anything we do until we are no longer conscious of the mechanics of it, whether it’s touch-typing, driving a car, playing a video game, or whatever it is we do well, if we take the time to break it down into steps, we can usually find ourselves awestruck that our brains can do so much at once. Putting it that way, I don’t think I’m any different than anyone. I just have a different set of circumstances.
At the same time, I hope by sharing my life and what it’s like to survive as a Deaf person, I’ve raised some awareness for those who may never know, but who might meet by chance, someone who cannot hear. They are everywhere. To find my challenge from the beginning, click here: https://lindaghill.com/2016/04/01/all-about-alex-atoz-challenge/
For my second challenge, I took on the task of showing rather than telling different characteristics of people in fiction. I learned that it’s not easy, when writing less than 200 words, and in some cases only 50, to pull a virtue or flaw out of a character and relay it sufficiently. I’m sure I failed a few times, but hey, it was an exercise to better my craft. We learn from our mistakes as well as our successes. You can find the start of my fiction A to Z here: https://lindaghillfiction.com/2016/04/01/apathetic-a-z-april-blogging-challenge/
As much fun as this year’s A to Z was, I admit I’m glad it’s over. As well as editing my epic paranormal romance novel, I’m also planning to self-publish my A to Z fiction (a romantic comedy novelette) from two years ago. I’ve promised myself the latter will be available for sale next month. On a related note, as you may know, I plan to turn this year’s A to Z on parenting a Deaf child into a book. Therefore, I’ll be removing it from view on my blog at the end of this month. If you haven’t read it all yet, and want to before I compile it for publication, do it soon!
It’s been great meeting new bloggers through the challenge. I hope to participate again next year. It’s been a blast!
Today’s theme for Song-Lyric Sunday is Moms. I wanted to share something a little different. I’ve always loved the song, “The Way,” by Fastball. It reminds me of carefree days before kids, when the world was my oyster and the road was paved with gold, at least in my mind. It also reminds me that there are people in the world who never grow up, who never submit to the responsibility of the children they bear. What the couple does in the song is a fleeting fantasy. One I admit to occasionally having. In me, it only lasts a split second. For some…
“The Way” – Fastball
They made up their minds
And they started packing
They left before the sun came up that day
An exit to eternal summer slacking
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?
They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?
[Chorus:]
Anyone can see the road that they walk on
Is paved in gold
And it’s always summer
They’ll never get cold
They’ll never get hungry
They’ll never get old and grey
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They won’t make it home
But they really don’t care
They wanted the highway
They’re happier there today, today
Their children woke up
And they couldn’t find them
They left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off and left it all behind ’em
But where were they going without ever
Knowing the way?
[Chorus]
Song-Lyric Sunday is brought to you by the lovely and talented Helen Espinosa. Click the link and learn how you, too, can join in! https://helenespinosa.wordpress.com/2016/05/08/song-lyric-sunday-oh-mother-by-christina-aguilera/
Happy Mother’s Day, to all the awesome
and sometimes overworked
but always appreciated Moms out there!
What makes one a parent? Is it the simple act of creating another life? Or is it having days like the one I’m having today? It started with coming out of my bedroom to find the kid at the top of the stairs holding a dog biscuit up above his head and the dog about to jump up at him from the stair above (the kid was one step down from the top) and about to knock him down the entire flight backwards.
Said kid has been frustrated all day by one thing after another, and screaming his head off (as he is now) and testing my limits as he does it.
The second time he tried to kill himself today (I’m saying this is the second, because things come in threes and I want it to be over already) he decided he wasn’t going to eat today. At all. I had visions of him ending up in hospital hooked up to an IV because his heart can’t handle dehydration.
And then (you’ll really get a kick out of this one) he pulled the power cord out of his laptop (still plugged into the wall) and decided it might be yummy. He actually put it in his mouth before I noticed. !!!!!
If being stressed out means being a parent to a child who doesn’t realize how self-destructive he’s being, and actually staying with him while he practically kills me, then apparently I’m a parent.
I actually thought about recording him but I don’t want my audience to hate me. You’re welcome.
P.S. In case you’re not sure how to take this post, I’m still smiling. Smile with me. We’re all still alive.
This madness post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and join in today! https://lindaghill.com/2016/05/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-716/
Hey! Hi there! It’s Friday! That means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Despite all the exclamation marks, I’m not really that energetic. But sometimes ya just gotta pretend, right? Here in North America, and possibly in India, it’s Mother’s Day this weekend. In celebration, I thought I’d give everyone the opportunity (or not) to post about it for SoCS. Here’s the prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “apparent/a parent.” Use either one or both. You choose. Enjoy!
After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!
To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!
Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!
Our freedom depends on others, no matter who we are.
Lest we forget.
____________________________________________________________________________
Anyone who would like to participate, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do,
you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a ping back, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.
As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a ping back from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.
Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”
The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:
1. Make it one sentence.
2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.
3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.
4. Add our new, very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!
5. Have fun!
#1linerWeds badge by nearlywes.com
This picture was taken at sunset on a dull, rainy night at Jolly Beach, Antigua, January 23, 2013.
Reality
By first lightening the photo, and then enhancing the reds and blues, and decreasing the greens, I ended up with a much more stunning sunset than I saw in reality.
On fire
Which do you prefer?
This post is part of K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge! This week’s theme is beaches. Click the link and learn what to do to join in! https://diaryofaninternetnobody.com/2016/05/02/klee-and-dales-cosmic-photo-challenge-7/
On my recent blog post on Donald Trump, ( https://lindaghill.com/2016/03/22/trump/ ) I’ve had a counterpoint made in response by the dear Mr. Jack Sutter. I have to admit that since I wrote it, I’ve heard Mr. Trump speak on the issues of allowing people in to the country by way of more rigorous screening, and I agree, it’s something that needs to be handled. However.
Donald Trump has proven himself to be a Narcissist of epic proportions. Anyone who has known a Narcissist and been manipulated by one, can attest to the fact that they are both untrustworthy and dangerous. Therefore, one must conclude that what Mr. Trump says now, may or may not be what he would carry out as president. For anyone who has not known a Narcissist personally, I urge you to research Narcissistic Personality Disorder, both for the sake of identifying Mr. Trump and for the event that you might meet one in person.
Jack points out that my statement about not building walls, and instead standing together and being brave means we are doing nothing. I’d like to clarify as best I can. By standing together as a society, we can best find ways to protect ourselves. In the spirit of finding an example, consider this on a smaller scale. If we box ourselves up inside our own four walls with our family, and listen only to the radio to discover what is going on outside, we learn only what the radio tells us. However, if we go out and talk to real people, with real diversity, we learn so much more. We find that we have things in common. Things that the radio doesn’t tell us about because they WANT us to be fearful. It’s their way of controlling us. Once we get out, we can plan to live side-by-side, and do what is best for our communities, and only then can we find the best way to defend ourselves if necessary, using the strength we have in numbers.
When Jack talks about Cold War tactics in his post, he makes a very good point again. Except we have to come back to Mr. Trump’s untrustworthiness. Yes, he might be “just saying” he’ll wipe out the families of terrorists, but he might not. And if he does, then what? You can bet the terrorists will double their efforts.
Again, Jack makes a good point about putting a timetable on taking out the terrorists. But if it’s to be done, it has to be done right, no matter who does it.
And finally, Jack says that Mr. Trump is protecting American Muslims. I counter with this: he’s talking about sending every immigrant back to where they came from, and making them reapply for citizenship. Sending them back to war-torn countries is hardly protecting them.
My main concern is that Donald Trump is a pathological Narcissist. Look it up. He’s the poster boy. If he’s a caricature at all, it’s of himself.
Please visit Jack Sutter’s post to comment, and please keep it civil. Thank you.
Donald Trump is not the monster his critics make him out to be.
That’s not an opinion, it’s a statement of fact.
Most of the criticisms leveled at him – or that you yourself may have even leveled at him if you’re a critic – are based on a caricature. Not on the man himself though, nor on his actual policies or rhetoric. This is verifiable for anyone who wants to look through transcripts of his speeches or listen to them in videos to see what he’s actually said, and to anyone willing to go to his website and actually read his policies. The following, a comment I left on Linda’s post about Trump…
Is a slightly edited response to one of the criticisms I’m describing…
“But how do we fight fear? By being brave and standing together. Not building walls and hiding within them, never letting anyone else in.”
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