Life in progress

Category Archives: Blogs


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Just Jot It January – The Badge is Here!

Using my mad paint skills, I drew a badge for everyone who joined me in blogging for Just Jot It January this year! Here, again, is the list of participants:

Margaret (Myas) at A Tragic Lady But No TB.

Willow at Willowdot21

Miss Lou at Miss Lou Aquiring Lore

Bill at The Frisco Kid of Texas

Pamela at Poetry by Pamela.

Cindy at Dreamsinalaska.

Belinda at Idiot Writing.

KG at Books, Music, Photography & Movies

Deborah at Container Chronicles

Susan at Putting in a good word

Randee at A String of Pearls

Congratulations to all! Here’s your badge – let your blog wear it proudly! Just copy it and paste it, like an award, to your page. 🙂

JJJ Part 2014


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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Fe1/14

Someone, not that long ago, asked me what the difference is between blogging and journaling. I had to think about it. I love blogging because it allows me to put in black and white my thoughts, my feelings. I can show you (my followers) what I see, both by description and in pictures. I can share as much or as little of my life as I wish.

It’s like having a box – a full box – that only I can peek into. I can release the contents of my box or I can keep them hidden. There are things in my box which I will never tell – that’s one of the drawbacks of using my real name. But if I was to go undercover of a pseudonym, would I share then? Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes I think about saying a certain thing and I’ll even sometimes type it. But then I’ll see it in the preview and I’ll cringe, or I’ll just shake my head and go back to remove it.

I think that’s the difference between blogging and journaling. If I was writing a journal I might leave it all in. All the dirt, the stuff that makes me red in the face and the things that I don’t want my friends and family to read. Whether it’s personal to me or personal to them, I don’t want them to know everything I’m thinking. Who would?

I also love my audience. Not necessarily because I want to be read, but because I enjoy the interaction. I don’t blog for likes (I know I’ve mentioned this before, but this is stream of consciousness – shoot me), I blog for our shared experience. I write to know I’m not alone and to let others know they’re not alone in our experiences of life.

We’ve all felt cold, we’ve all known pain, whether it be physical or emotional – we all know what water tastes like. Can we explain it all? No. But if enough words go out there, maybe, just maybe, a sentence or two will connect with us, and so we can say to one another: Yes! That’s exactly it!

That’s the best feeling of all.

I’m glad I blog. I have a journal as well on LiveJournal, which only about three people read. It’s also fun. It’s more personal – but I don’t have to worry about anyone I know coming across it.

I love my followers here. I wouldn’t give them up – not even for a journal.

P.S. I’m not online today, but I’ll answer all your comments when I come back tomorrow night.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to read my fiction blog posts daily, at http://lindaghillfiction.wordpress.com/ . Thanks!


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JusJoJan 31 – We Did It!!!

On the final day of Just Jot it January, I’d like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you everyone who participated. I discovered some fantastic blogs during the course of the month. I was going to design a badge for everyone who joined in, but, life happened and I ran out of time. If I get a chance over the weekend, I’ll send one to each of you.

So here are a list of the amazing people who stood with me in this event, held my hand, and played along in the fun that has been JusJoJan! I strongly suggest you check them out if you haven’t already.

In the seemingly random order of the pingbacks:

Margaret (Myas) at A Tragic Lady But No TB. Her blog is like sitting down over a cup of coffee in a warm and inviting kitchen.

Willow at Willowdot21 for wonderful and adventurous poetry.

Miss Lou at Miss Lou Aquiring Lore for opinions, excitement and fun.

Bill at The Frisco Kid of Texas for great reviews and more.

Pamela at Poetry by Pamela. She’s new to the poetry game, but she’s a natural.

Cindy at Dreamsinalaska. If you love Haiku, you’ll love Cindy.

Belinda at Idiot Writing. Her witty articles and art are a must to see.

KG at Books, Music, Photography & Movies for fabulous photography … and books and music and movies.

Deborah at Container Chronicles for her teaching adventures overseas.

Susan at Putting in a good word for poetry, book reviews, fiction and life in Australia.

Randee at A String of Pearls for an interesting slice of life.

Give yourselves a pat on the back, and let’s all do it again next year!


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JusJoJan 30 – Happy Anniversary To Me!

Today is unofficially my one year blog anniversary!

I joined WordPress in July 2012, wrote one post and promptly forgot about my blog. Then, on January 30th of last year, I began what has grown to what you see here. I had no idea what to expect at first. I remember being both thrilled and confused when I received my first ‘like.’ Who could possibly like me? I thought. How would anyone even know I exist?

The more I explored my reader and found people with similar interests, the more I learned. And then one day I took a chance. I made a joke in a comment on someone else’s blog. He was fairly new at the game as well and, as it turned out, he seemed as amazed as I was at how many people had noticed him. Granted, at the time I only had ten followers (he was one) and he had already 300. It won’t surprise some of you that that fellow blogger was the one and only Opinionated Man. I’m so grateful to him for teaching me so much about blogging, and especially how to form friendships here in our WordPress world. Thank you, Jason, my dear.

In celebration of my anniversary, I’m re-posting my first post. I’m putting it up on my fiction blog, since my foray into blogging started with my semi-fictional series about a boy: a poor boy who survives abuse and rises up to become a star.

Click here to find One Poor Boy

While it’s not fireworks; nor anthems; nor parades, it means something to me. I hope you’ll go today, and each day to read it and to celebrate with me the life of a character I care so much about.

Now pass the champagne!

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Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!

1. It’s never too late to join in, since the “Jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to WordPress that day, great! If it waits a week to get from the sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. If you write a JusJoJan post on your blog, you can ping it back to the above link to make sure everyone participating knows where to find it.
3. Write anything!
4. Have fun!


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The Future of Publishing Crap, Part Two

I came across an article today which drives home the importance of editing and putting out one’s absolute best work when self-publishing. I would have re-blogged, but that wasn’t an option.

This: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/01/28/follow-up-on-self-publishing-readers-are-not-good-gatekeepers/ is the article, by Chuck Wendig. In it, he explains how self-publishing is becoming a decent and viable option to traditional means, and how that could change if self-published authors present sub-par efforts to the reading public. It’s an excellent article. You should read it, even if you’re not an author.

If you’re wondering about the “Part Two” in the title, and you’re new around here, you can find my original post on this subject here: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/the-future-of-publishing-crap/


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JusJoJan 17 – One Lovely Blog Award

one-lovely-blog-award2

I am so very very far behind in accepting the awards I have been nominated for. Busyness and laziness are my excuses, though not necessarily in that order.

I feel I must accept the ‘One Lovely Blog Award,’ however, without delay, as it was presented to me by the lovely Ursula at An Upturned Soul in a post dedicated to me alone, as she has decided to have a separate post for each of her nominees. Ursula is a talented, wonderfully expressive writer, a courageous Narcissist Slayer, and an amazing artist and photographer, not to mention a kind, and generous person. I urge everyone not only to check out and follow her blog, but to see all she has to offer on Tumblr, DeviantArt and Pinterest.

Thank you so much, Ursula, for this wonderful award. I am truly honoured.

The rules of this award are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Nominate 15 bloggers.

4. Notify the nominees.

5. Put the logo of the award on your blog.

Seven things about myself that I may not have mentioned. Hmmm…

1. I love listening to music on vinyl. I have many of the albums I bought as a teenager, and a twenty-four year old turntable to play them on. The last album I bought before I started purchasing CD’s was “Love at First Bite” by the Scorpions. The first rock album I ever owned was “Frampton Comes Alive.”

2. I’m scared of Macs – I have owned five HP computers and a dread the day my Autistic son, Christopher, says to me that his MacBook is broken.

3. I have daddy longlegs living in my basement and I don’t kill them because they eat spiders – and I hate spiders more than daddy longlegs.

4. I love looking at the work of talented photographers almost as much as I love listening to a great guitar riff.

5. Speaking of great guitar riffs, Brian May is my hero.

6. I’m dying to go back to Japan. (I might have mentioned that at some point.)

7. Apart from going to Japan, my idea of an ideal vacation is sitting on a beach under a palm tree, reading a book.

Okay! That wasn’t all that difficult.

Now on to my nominees. Now THIS is going to be hard. There are so many lovely blogs out there!

In no particular order, here are the lovely blogs:

1. Sue at It Goes On

2. Pamela at Poetry by Pamela

3. Myas at Myas – A Tragic Lady But No TB

4. Belinda at Idiot Writing

5. Joey at Joeyfully Stated

6. Aussa at HACKER.NINJA.HOOKER.SPY

7. Cindy at Dreams In Alaska

8. Samokan at Maniniyot

9. Willow at Willowdot21

10. Paul at Paul Davis // My Creations, Life and Musings

11. Bruce at A Story A Day

12. Ian at ianstarttoday

13. Kevin at idiot.with.camera

14. Paolo M. at The Pirate Horizon (an adults only site)

15. Opinionated Man at A Good Blog is Hard To Find

Congratulations to all the nominees. I understand that some of you may not accept – more than anything I want to highlight your sites and encourage everyone to visit. These are some amazing blogs!!!

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Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!


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JusJoJan 15 1/2 – Words

On this, the fifteen and a halfth day (yes, I made that up because I want there to be a middle) of Just Jot it January, I’d like to refresh things by getting as many people involved as possible – with a prompt!

My dear friend Myas, last week reminded me of a post that went up on The Community Storyboard – again, a prompt – where we were challenged to find new meanings for ten words. Here is Myas’ post: http://preziosofrye.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/jusjojan-11th-word-geekery/

It was so much fun for me that I’d like to see what you can come up with. Yes, YOU! Find ten words of your own and redefine them. Post them on your site and then link your post back here in the comments so we can all see them. As an added incentive, I will re-blog the first three people who link back their post.

The following was my contribution from last July:

1. Barrage – how old you are when you can legally drink
2. Brandy – comes after brand C
3. Mystical – a foggy giggle
4. Ineffability – the spontaneous and continuous use of the eff word
5. Donut – a person enamoured with the expletives of Homer Simpson
6. Aftermath – period of time when one must go to history class
7. Morbid – before the end of the auction
8. Philosophize – speculate about something hardening (tell me if you get it)
9. Summarily – …and some miserably
10. Distract – the opposite of dat tract

Get yours in early!

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Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!

1. It’s never too late to join in, since the “Jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to WordPress that day, great! If it waits a week to get from the sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. If you write a JusJoJan post on your blog, you can ping it back to the above link to make sure everyone participating knows where to find it.
3. Write anything!
4. Have fun!


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JusJoJan 13 – What Blogging has Taught Me About Subtracting

From this:

With the door closed it was very quiet in the room apart from the sound of birds cooing. Herman went to the window in search of the source. A line of tall, thick trees at the perimeter of a vast lawn surrounded the house. Daffodils and tulips poked up through the soil as close to the house as she could see without putting her forehead against the glass. Beyond the garden a cobblestone walkway, wide enough for two people to stroll side by side wound it’s way past a patio sat off to the left. To the right was a small brick building with six or eight sides, she couldn’t really tell from her vantage point. It was made of the same colour brick as the house and had many small windows near the top. It looked to be about two stories high. A shed, or a coop perhaps. She turned her back to the window see if the room appeared as domestically normal as the garden. The walls were paneled with dark wood and the furniture was antique, upholstered with red velvet. Along one wall, to her right, either side of the door hung pictures of landscapes rather than family portraits. The wall opposite the door was covered in fragrantly old books. A computer with a the large flat screen perched upon a heavy ancient-looking desk was the only evidence that she hadn’t stepped back in time.

To this:

The sound of birds cooing beckoned Herman to the window in search of the source. A protective line of tall, thick pines stood like sentries around at the perimeter of a vast lawn, and daffodils and tulips poked their heads up through the soil as close to the house as she could see. Beyond the flower garden a cobblestone walkway, wide enough for two people to stroll side by side wound it’s way past a patio off to the left. To the right stood a small red brick building with six or eight sides and a dozen small windows near the top that reflected the gloomy April sky. A shed, or a coop perhaps. She turned her back on the peaceful scenery outside, to see if the room appeared as domestically serene as the garden. The dark paneled walls were adorned either with painted landscapes or covered in bookshelves containing fragrantly old books, lending the student in her warm comfort. A computer with a the large flat screen perched upon a heavy ancient-looking desk was the only evidence that she hadn’t stepped back in time.

Above is first the original NaNo 2011 version of the beginning of Chapter 5 of my manuscript, and second is what I edited it down to this morning. What do you think?

I see this as the result of two years writing experience and endless blog posts which have forced me to write to be publicly read. I see this as the result of two very wonderful people who have critiqued my work and told me in no uncertain terms that I have to put the character in my descriptions. (Thank you so much, Janice and Connie. Honest critique is the most valuable thing a writer can receive.)

In all, I see the second version as something that a publisher might actually look at. But that was one paragraph out of 524 pages.

Back to work!

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Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!


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JusJoJan 10 – Lazy Blogging

When I started this blog, I did so with the intention of writing well thought out, succinct, and grammatically perfect articles. They would all be of a decent length as well as entertaining, informative, and interesting. I would write to impress potential employers who would be so wowed by my writing skills that, after reading any given post, they would be standing in line waiting to throw money at me.

Apart from the fact that I haven’t actually applied for a job anywhere yet, I seem to have failed. I’ve become lazy. My posts are getting shorter and shorter, and surely having a goal of “jotting” something down every day doesn’t help me on my quest to achieve greatness with every article.

I’ve fallen into the trap of writing what gets read most often on WordPress – 500 or less words. “Less is more” has become my mantra, and conciseness my overlord. So while I might be getting better at stating my thoughts in short, sharp, crispy little pieces, my personal goal has gone by the wayside.

It’s not that I don’t put a fair bit of thought into my blog posts: most of them anyway. Yes, I’m guilty of just posting what I’m thinking at times, like last night while I was staring, drooling over a picture of a white sandy beach. But for the rest of them, I try to come up with something my followers will want to read.

But this concise writing is habit forming. I find that if I do try to write more, it ends up rambling. Then I edit it to make it sound good and, well, it ends up shorter every time.

It’s ironic in a way, that behind the scenes I’m trying to cut an originally 214K word manuscript down to a more reasonable 140K, and here on my blog I’m whining about not being able to write enough in one article, isn’t it? Perhaps that’s my problem. I’m getting into the habit everywhere.  Maybe I should post the clumps of text on my blog that I scoop out of my novel!

Wow, is this article ever going downhill fast.

To conclude, I’ve decided I need to do something about this. I’m going to try to write a more professional-sounding article once a week that’s between 600-800 words in length. I’m hesitant to commit to a certain day of the week, though maybe having a deadline will help. If I’m ever going to write professionally, it’s a habit I need to get into.

That way maybe I won’t feel as guilty about writing the occasional one-liner with a picture of a beach.

 

 
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Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!

1. It’s never too late to join in, since the “Jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to WordPress that day, great! If it waits a week to get from the sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. If you write a JusJoJan post on your blog, you can ping it back to the above link to make sure everyone participating knows where to find it.
3. Write anything!
4. Have fun!

 


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A Thank You and a Reminder

I wanted to post a thank you to each and every one who followed my fiction blog after last night’s post. A plate of your favourite cookies will arrive via Santa’s hungover reindeer within the week.

Also, I wanted to say thank you to everyone participating in Just Jot it January – I didn’t think it would be this popular! Don’t forget to link back to the rules post here: https://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/jusjojan-1-the-rules-are-easy/ for a guaranteed view from me and likely from everyone else participating. And don’t forget, it’s never too late to join. It’s a guaranteed follow from me if you do. Of course the best part of all is that it encourages us all to write! And that’s what we’re here for, right?

I love you guys!