Life in progress

Monthly Archives: December 2020


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Just Jot it January 2021 – The Rules!

Hey there! Welcome to the 8th annual Just Jot it January challenge! This year is going to be far simpler than the last couple of years. One prompt per day, link to that post, that’s it. Details below.

But why should you participate in this challenge? To keep the ol’ fingers warm and meet up with an awesome blogging community, that’s why! Just Jot it January, AKA JusJoJan, is a challenge to write a post every day of the month of January. We’ve grown from a handful of participants in 2014 to close to fifty for the past couple of years. Let’s see if we can make it to sixty this year!

Here are the JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday – Energy

Whomever  lives in this house has a lot of energy for decorating. Still missing the snow.

Photo: The same house I posted a picture of at Halloween, now with some awesome Christmas decorations: lights, nutcrackers, trees, wreaths, and lots more.

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!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

 


by 12 Comments

#SoCS – Boxing Day

I don’t know about you, but Christmas on a Friday really screwed me up for some reason. I was convinced it was Sunday all day today. Which is going to make Sunday (the real Sunday) reeeeeally long.

So it was Boxing Day today here in Canada. I’ve never really known the true meaning of Boxing Day. I think it’s either the day you throw out all the boxes from the stuff you got at Christmas or it’s the day you box your kids’ ears when they whine about what they didn’t get from Santa.

That Santa guy must have really had his work cut out for him this year. If the rest of the world is any indication, at least a few of the elves had to be out with Covid. I mean, you don’t even go to work with the sniffles these days.

Sniffles is, by the way, the name of one of the elves. Or so I’m told. He was really lonely this year.

Where was I?

Oh yes, Boxing Day.

I need a Boxing Day just to get rid of the boxes from the computers that don’t work anymore. You know, the boxes they tell you to keep in case you need to ship it back to be fixed? Those boxes somehow manage to outlast the computers every single time.

They should make cardboard computers. Maybe they’d last longer.

Is it Sunday yet?

Yep. Sunday.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This slightly tipsy post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/12/25/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-26-2020/


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 26/2020

It’s Friday! And it’s Christmas! Merry Christmas, everyone! I’m here (because it’s Friday) with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. OH! Oven’s ready. Got to put the croissants in. Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “box.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

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 beautiful 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!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.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!


by 46 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – All we’re missing is the snow

We’re going back into lockdown on December 26th, but at least we have lights.

Photo: A gazebo with a red roof, decorated with blue, red, and white lights at the edge of the water. The reflection is almost perfect.

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!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

 


by 40 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 19/2020

It’s Friday! And I’m here with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. People south of here are shoveling out from under feet of snow, and I can still see my grass. But it’s cold! I think I’d rather have the snow … just not too much. Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “magnet.” Use it any way you’d like. 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 beautiful 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!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.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!


by 45 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Being human being

For all my promises about January yesterday, I totally forgot to schedule my One-Liner Wednesday post last night.

This being human thing is getting old.

And this human being thing is getting old.

😉

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!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com


by 28 Comments

Just Jot It January a new way

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how I can make Just Jot It January work in 2021, because I know I’ll be busy with my novel. Like, extremely busy.

If you’re familiar with the prompt, you know for the last few years I’ve requested prompts from other bloggers and I’ve posted the prompt itself separately from my own JusJoJan entry. I really enjoy doing it that way, but it’s simply not realistic this next year. It’s way too time consuming, plus, I feel like I need to write my own post on the actual day of the prompt so I can provide content that’s relevant.

So here’s what I propose to do this year: fiction.

Every day in January except for Wednesdays, when you’ll still get your One-Liner Wednesday, and Saturday (SoCS) I’ll post either a stand-alone short story or an episode of a serialized one. The story will have a one-word title that you can use for your prompt, and it will be posted at 2am EST, so unless you’re on the other side of the world, you’ll have all day to write your own JusJoJan post. Yours does NOT have to be fiction–it can be anything, and you can use the prompt word or not.

However, I’m not going to leave you out of this completely.

What I’d love from you is something to prompt me on what to write. In the comments, give me any or all of the following:

1. A name (It can be your own, but all I can promise is that I won’t kill you in my story. You may end up being any kind of character, possibly not even human.);

2. A setting;

3. A situation or a “what if.”

I may not use all of the suggestions I’m given, but if I do use your suggestion, I’ll try to link back to you in some way.

I’ll start writing my stories over the Christmas holidays and schedule them to show up in January.

Keep an eye out for the official Just Jot it January rules post for this year.

Aaaand, prompt me!


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#SoCS – Maxed out

As always at this time of year, I’ve given myself the maximum amount to do with the minimum time to do it. I love Christmas time. I really do. I just don’t like all the responsibility that comes with it.

I love giving, I hate shopping. I love eating, I don’t like the stress of making sure I have everything I need and getting it all ready on time. And don’t even get me started on wrapping presents. I love seeing them under the tree … if only the elves would wrap them for me.

Is that too much to ask?

It looks like I won’t be able to have my mother over this year. The Covid cases in my town are climbing, and while I trust myself not to give her anything other than gifts and food, I understand that not everyone is as careful as I am. The long term care home has to make a blanket rule, and I’m much more comfortable with them saying no to all the families.

But my mother won’t understand. She doesn’t remember there’s a virus, even if I tell her every two minutes. I’m hoping they’ll still let me visit with a negative Covid test. I might at least be able to do that.

So where was I with the mini/maxi thing? Oh yeah! I’ve also given myself a week to edit 50K words of my own book for publication in February. And I have two days to go with 25K words left to go before I have to send it to my developmental editor.

I’m working at maximum capacity, I tell ya.

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/

This stressful-just-reading-it post was brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt here and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2020/12/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-12-2020/


by 34 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 12/2020

Friday’s here and so am I with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Christmas is coming and, as usual, I haven’t finished my shopping. How are you doing with yours? Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “mini/maxi.” Use “mini” (the smallest of something) or “maxi” (the largest) or both in your post. Have fun!

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 beautiful 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!!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.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!