Life in progress

Daily Archives: January 27, 2023


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#JusJoJan the 27th/23 – Social amenities

Our prompt word for January 27th is “amenities.” Thanks so much, Kim, for the neat prompt!

I’ve been having issues with one of my amenities today. Specifically, my internet. Which is part of the reason I’m posting this so late. My reason for yesterday’s late posting? I forgot to hit the publish button. o_O

But I digress.

I learned something new today!

As I often do when I’m looking for inspiration for a post, I opened the dictionary. (I’m such a nerd.)

And I found this in Merriam-Webster:

usually amenities : something (such as a conventional social gesture) that promotes smoothness or pleasantness in social relationships

<maintaining social amenities>

Who knew?

Now that I know, it explains a few things for me.

I come to my blog and to most of the social media sites I visit to be social. To have nice conversations with nice people.

Which, I’ve realized, is why I feel icky when I use social media (or my blog) to try to sell my books.

Sure, they tell you when you advertise that you’re giving the consumer something they need (like my books), or something that will make you happy (definitely my books), but I can’t help but feel that it’s unsmooth and unpleasant to talk about buying my books (which you absolutely want to do) with people who are just trying to have a nice conversation with me.

So perhaps the subliminal approach is best.

Because the truth is, I’m excited about my books. Especially when I have a new release coming out soon. And although it might seem to lack social amenities to talk about my books, I’m sure there are people out there who are excited for me.

Right?

Yeah, no. Totally unsmooth.

 ***

This totally subliminal post is brought to you by Just Jot it January and Kim! Please be sure to check out Kim’s blog here!

For Just Jot it January, click the following link to see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2023/01/27/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-27th-2023/ It’s fun!


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The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2023 Daily Prompt – Jan. 28th

Welcome to our final combination Daily 2023 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th! Where has January gone? It’s flown by for me.

For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole or single word. If you’re joining in from JusJoJan, don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you! If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 28th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “throw in the towel.” Use the phrase “throw in the towel” somewhere in your post. 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 post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our 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/

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

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. 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 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!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 27th, 2023

Hellooo! I’m here with our regular daily prompt. Today is our twenty-seventh prompt for Just Jot it January 2023, and it’s brought to us by Kim. Thank you, Kim! Please be sure to visit Kim’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there, if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 27th 2023, is “amenities.” Use the word “amenities” any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find it HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for Friday, January 27th, 2023.

2. 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!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). 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.

4. 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.

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

6. 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!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

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

9. Have fun!


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#JusJoJan the 26th/23 – Family

Our prompt word for January 26th is “family.” Thanks so much, J-Dub, for the wonderful prompt!

When I was growing up, I always wished for a bigger family. For brothers and sisters. But I never got them. I used to envy my friends their siblings. I imagined idyllic friendships between them. Constant happy companionship. Ah, but I was an only child and knew only what I saw when I was playing with them. They were either getting along or avoiding each other, for the most part.

And I still have a hard time imagining it. When I write a story with siblings, they either get along famously or avoid each other. Yeah, I have three kids. But they’re atypical, two of them being disabled.

*sigh* I’ll never understand. If only I’d had brothers and sisters.

 ***

This retrospective post is brought to you by Just Jot it January and J-Dub! Please be sure to check out J-Dub’s blog here!

For Just Jot it January, click the following link to see how you, too, can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2023/01/26/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-26th-2023/ It’s fun!