I wrote an email to a friend this morning using my gmail account. Just a regular event, nothing special, right? That’s what I thought. And then I hit the send button. A message popped up to let me know that in the body of the email I had written the word “attached,” but that I had not added an attachment to my email. “Are you sure you want to send it?” Google asked.
Two thoughts came to mind in such quick succession that I’m not sure which one I thought first: Oh, isn’t that a handy feature! and What the hell is Google doing reading my email?
I mean seriously, if they’re flagging the word “attached” then what else are they flagging? And who are they sharing it with? If they’re not sharing it with anyone, are they just proving a point? As in, “See? We know what you’re writing. We’re watching you.”
So I decided to read their privacy policy. This is the only thing I could find on the subject of emails:
Our automated systems analyze your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection.
Hmm…
To say this feature is disconcerting is an understatement. I’ve been thinking about it all day. And I still can’t decide – is it the best thing since sliced bread? Or is this Google’s way of buttering me up while they keep an eye on my private communications?
Friday! We should write a jingle just for Friday to attach to our alarm clocks so we know without a doubt it’s here when we wake up. Because Friday means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Here it is:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “mind.” Use it any way you think to. Have fun!
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.
A few weeks back I was delighted to discover there was an hashtag on Twitter – #1lineWed – that I thought would be nice to use for our weekly prompt of the same name here on WordPress. I spoke to the lady who, I assume, came up with the hashtag. It turned out that it was in use as a prompt for writers to post one line of their work-in-progress on Twitter. The “owner” of the hashtag and I discussed it and came to the conclusion that the more the hashtag was used, the more exposure both our prompts would receive. Good for everyone, right?
However, the “users” of #1lineWed have other ideas. I keep getting complaints that I’m using it wrong – that it’s not for me because I don’t participate in the prompt they’re used to seeing. For instance, this tweet (directly quoted) I received this morning:
in case you didn’t know, this # is for writers to share there lines and there is a theme each week.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not worth the hassle of getting chewed out by people who think they own the hashtag. Therefore, I will be changing the “rules” of One-Liner Wednesday once again.
I’ll take suggestions on a hashtag that won’t infringe on anyone else’s ownership rights. One that we can share not only amongst ourselves but with the world in general. Because we’re nice like that. Please leave your ideas in the comments below – if there are enough, maybe we’ll do a poll next week and vote on it. 😀
Anyone who would like to try it out, 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:
Welcome. I see you’re from Earth. That’s great, because I want to have visitors from all over the world. So, here’s what I’d like to do. It’s my Reaching Out to the World Project.
I’m sure you’re from somewhere on that map. Well, I’d like you to do a few simple things for this project. It’s really easy.
First, leave a comment on this post saying which country you’re originally from.
Second, share this post on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Reddit, and so on. Reblog if you like.
Third, and this is optional, tell your international blogger friends about this post, and ask them to leave a comment.
Easy, isn’t it? I’ll update the countries that are represented here in a list below. I’d love to see blogs from all over the world. Everyone has a unique perspective. So, if you’re interested, then leave your comment…
Tonight I went out with friends for dinner and drinks – something I haven’t done in many years.
It’s important, I think, to connect with people. I consider myself lucky to have friends. Friends aren’t something I’ve had a lot of in my life, at least not since high school. Oh, I’ve had a few here and there, but the life I lead isn’t one many people can find something in common with. I’m a parent, yes, but my kids are … special. Being a writer and admitting it usually results in people looking at me as though I’ve grown an extra head.
It’s Friday, right? So hard to keep track of the days some weeks. If it is indeed Friday, then it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Many of the battles on my to-do list continue to daunt me, but never mind; one at a time, slow and steady, and all those other sayings we love and/or are sick of can be put into play. Ah, so what to do with the prompt? Let’s see:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “-ay.” Find a word ending in “ay” and use it as the theme/subject of your post. Play with it, I say!
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.
You, the voters, have chosen our new Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge! For a while there it looked like I would have to make the final decision, but I was spared by a hair.
First, as promised (and so the winner’s badge doesn’t show up in the reader) here is the badge we have dutifully used for the past year. Since Doobster has departed for what I imagine are greener pastures and fresher air, I thought it would be a nice tribute to give everyone the opportunity to remember him with this:
As I said, it was very close. There was only one vote between each of the top three:
In first was: My Leaky Boat with “Flowers,”
followed by Nearly Wes with “Sun Rays.”
In third was Owl Wonder with “Splash”
and then in close fourth was Irene Design with “Gems”
and bringing up the most honourable last place was Ever Changing with “Waterfall.”
Congratulations to all the entrants for a job well done and thank you to everyone who voted!
It’s after midnight and all the entries are in for the new Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge contest. We have five fantastic badges to choose from! Anyone can vote: make yours count!
I’ll name them all to make it easier for voting purposes. Here are the contestants in order according to their entries:
lindaghill.com 