Life in progress

Monthly Archives: June 2019


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We have a winner! 2019-20 One-Liner Wednesday Badge

The votes are in, and we have a clear winner for the One-Liner Wednesday badge contest!

Before I get into the details, though, I want to publicly send out my heartfelt apology to Cheryl for not checking her blog before I compiled the entries. I’m truly disappointed in WordPress for not coming through with her pingback. Seriously, I’m heartbroken.

Please check out her gorgeous photos and see what we missed out on. I hope she’ll give us a chance again next year. https://tropicalaffair.me/2019/06/09/whose-line-is-it-anyway/

And thank you once again, Cheryl, for gracing us with your beautiful badge for the last year! I’ll miss this little guy!

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

Now, it’s time to announce our lovely new badge.

Apart from the two entries that broke away from the pack, it was a tight race for the rest of the badges. There were lots of ties, so there are only seven placements.

Tied for 7th place, are Tessa’s Canada Geese and Jill’s City Scene.

Tied for 6th are the swans! Willow’s White Swan and pensitivity’s Black Swans.

Tied for 5th place are John’s Highway, Fandango’s Blue Angel Jet Stream, Mamasquirrel’s Nutty Squirrel, and Melanie’s Artsy Pen.

Tied for 4th place are Anita’s Puppy Love and Maggie’s Swimming Turtle.

Now, for the top three picks:

In third place we have …

JoAnna’s Pelicans in Flight!

In second place …

…

…

with 25% of the votes

…

…

Pamela’s Unhappy Cat!

So our winner for this year’s One-Liner Wednesday badge contest is Laura with Long Dock!!

 

#1linerWeds Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

Congratulations to Laura and to all who entered the contest!

If you’d like to see the results of the poll, please email me at linda@lindaghill.com and I’ll send you a screenshot.

Thanks to all the fabulous artists and everyone who voted!


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Vote Here for the 2019-2020 One-Liner Wednesday Badge

All the entries are in! We have what I think is a record number of contestants: thirteen! So get settled in and get ready to choose. If you haven’t seen all the badges entered into the contest, make sure you visit the links and take a look.

Since I can’t put the links themselves in the poll, I’ll name them. So when you find your favourite, remember the name of the badge so you can vote for it.

Here they are in the order they entered the contest:

Anita with Puppy Love

John Holton with Highway

Willow with White Swan

Fandango with Blue Angel Jet Stream

Mamasquirrel with Nutty Squirrel

JoAnna with Pelicans in Flight

Laura with Long Dock

Tessa with Canada Goose

Jill with City Scene

Maggie with Swimming Turtle

Pamela with Unhappy Cat

pensitivity with Black Swans

Melanie with Artsy Pen

Thank you so much to all the contestants! It’s going to be a tough decision!

The poll will be open for 24 hours only, and the results will be hidden until the poll is closed. In case of a tie, I’ll choose the winner.

Vote once, vote carefully, and be sure to tell your friends!

Best of luck to all our fabulous artists!

 


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#SoCS – That Arrangement

The actual line, to put my post into context, is, “I wonder what Nina will think of that arrangement,” out of my own book, The Magician’s Blood. It was the closest book to me when I decided to write my SoCS post.

The line made me think about all the things we don’t have control of. Things that circumstances, or maybe even the universe, arranges for us. It’s scary to feel like we’re not in control of our lives, of our situation.

I find the control I have over the little things in life helps quell that fear. Even if it’s only an illusion, knowing that I can decide what to do with my time at least some of the time makes me feel like I’m in charge. What I do with that time isn’t always good or productive …

Is procrastination a lack of control? I suppose it is. It’s certainly a lack of discipline.

I need to take control of my procrastination.

Make it disappear.

Go away, procrastination! I’m sick of having no control over you!

There. We’ll see if that works.

(Note to self: read this post every day.)

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This self-chastising post is brought to you (and me) by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link and join in. Do it now! https://lindaghill.com/2019/06/07/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-8-19/


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Have you entered the contest yet?

Just a quick reminder that the contest for our new One-Liner Wednesday badge closes tomorrow (Sunday) at 11:59pm EST. If you want to enter, do it soon!

Here’s the link with all the details: https://lindaghill.com/2019/06/04/one-liner-wednesday-badge-contest-2019/

Best of luck!


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 8/19

It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’m deliberately doing a repeat prompt this week because it’s so much fun and the results will always be different anyway. I think I’ll actually do this one every six months. Ready? Here’s your prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “open book, point, write.” Pick up the closest book to you when you sit down to write your post. Close your eyes, open the book, and place your finger on the page. Whatever word or phrase your finger lands on, write about it. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here to 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 our pretty 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!!

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

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. I will post the prompt here on my blog every 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 will simply be a single word to get you 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. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! 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 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!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Coffee!

Photo depicts a steaming glass mug of coffee and coffee beans strewn over a wooden table. Text reads: “It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.” ~ Dave Barry

Note: It’s our last week for this badge! See the previous post for contest rules to design our new #1linerWeds badge.

Bye, little monkey. We’ll miss you!

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

If you would like to participate in this prompt, 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 pingback, 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.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback 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 lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Badge Contest, 2019!

EDIT: Contest closed. Watch for the poll, to be posted here tomorrow morning (Monday, June 10), to vote for your favourite design. To get an early look at the contestants, go to the comment section below and click on the links.

Get out your art supplies, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s time for a new One-Liner Wednesday badge!

I’m a few weeks late this year (sorry, eh?), so I can’t promise the next badge will stay in circulation for a full 52 weeks, but it’ll be close! All you have to do is follow the guidelines below, and you can be entered into the contest!

Before we get started though, a moment of silence (and peace, and love) for the little friend who has graced our Wednesday pages for the past year and a bit.

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

Thank you so much, Cheryl, for sharing your little friend with us. He’ll always have a special place in my heart. I hope you’ll enter the contest again this year!

This week’s One-Liner Wednesday will be the last one with Cheryl’s badge. Participate and enjoy it while you can!

Here are the guidelines for entry into the contest:

1. The design can be anything you want it to be, but it must include “One-Liner Wednesday” and your name and/or the name of your website.

2. Any pictures (art or photo) must be your own, and they must be family-friendly.

3. When you’re happy with your badge and you’re ready to share it, write a blog post on your own website and link back HERE in the comments, so voters can check it out. The deadline to do this is Sunday, June 9th, 11:59pm EST. All links included here by that time will be added to a poll.

4. All entries will be shared here on my blog on Monday, June 10th, 2019, along with the poll that will close the next day, Tuesday the 11th.

5. The winner’s badge will be available for anyone who participates in One-Liner Wednesday to post permanently on their website as a widget and/or to embed in their weekly One-Liner Wednesday post for the next year, give or take a couple of weeks.

6. One entry per person. The contest is open to anyone with an active blog, WordPress or otherwise (see #3 for entry requirements).

7, Poll results will not be available while the poll is open. If there is a tie, I will choose the winner myself.*

8. If I’ve missed anything, or if you have any questions, please ask in the comment section below.

9. Have fun!

*I retain the right to refuse any badge that is distasteful, regardless of the number of votes it receives.


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#SoCS – Silence

That silence you encounter when the power goes out

The kind that makes you realize all of a sudden that you’ve been listening to the fridge

To the light bulbs burning

To countless currents flowing through wires

And then it begins–

The tinnitus.

The silence is deafening.

I think my favourite sound in the world, other than the laughter of my children, is the wind blowing through leaves out in the country where the occurrence of traffic is rare.

Or the sound of snow falling on a breezeless night, again, out in the middle of nowhere. On horseback.

In one of those moments when you think to yourself I’ll never forget this, and sure enough, thirty years later you still haven’t forgotten. And you still believe you never will.

If I had to choose, I think I’d pick silence over noise, pretty much any day.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find all the other awesome posts in the comment section, and join in the fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/05/31/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1-19/


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The Escapist Coloring Club Prompt – June 1, 2019

It’s June 1st! Welcome to The Escapist Coloring Club prompt. If you’d like to join the club, all you have to do is post pictures of your own colouring, your kids’ colouring, or that of anyone you know and have permission to share. This is a month-long prompt, which means you have all of June to link back here.

I’m not entirely happy with the result of my May colouring project. I did most of it whilst listening to an audiobook. Not sure if that had anything to do with my apparently crazy choices for colours, but to me it lacks coherency. I like the closeups better than the big picture. But hey, not every project can be a winner. And I still enjoyed the escape I had while I worked on it, so I win!!

Here’s the before.

And here are bits of the after. (Click for a closer look.)

And here’s the entire thing.

Because I didn’t do a mid-month reminder in May, here are all the participants from last month. Please check them out if you haven’t already!

Anita at For the Love Of

Margret at Margret’s Life Journey

Dar at Darswords

Barbara at Teleportingweena

I look forward to seeing all of your wonderful projects throughout the coming month!

Please find the “rules” below.

1. This prompt is designed for relaxation. As such, I encourage you to take your time to link your own post here, BUT, when you comment, please click the “Notify me of new comments via email” button. That way you’ll receive a notification when someone else links their project and you won’t miss anything. As with all the prompts, the more you visit others, the more your community of like-minded people grows.

2. Ping back! It’s important so that I and other people can come and read your post. To execute a pingback, just copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into the body of your post. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

3. There will be a prompt on the first of every month. I will try to post the prompt here on my blog at 9:30am -5 GMT. The prompt will simply be photos of my own colouring project. If you would like to host this prompt on your blog on another week during the month, either once, occasionally, or on a regular basis, please e-mail me at hilllindagmaru at gmail dot com and we’ll get you set up. All I ask is that you have an active blog and that you regularly reply to comments and visit other blogs.

4. Feel free to use The Escapist Coloring Club badge in your post.

5. Have fun!