Life in progress

Category Archives: Cool Stuff


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JusJoJan 20 – Whoa!

I have love/hate relationship with those moments when I just stand back and go, “Whoa!” at something I’ve figured out after years of doing it wrong.

Today my “Whoa!” moment came to me concerning the operation of a car, which is something I’ve been doing for (I’m dating myself here) about 34 years. I was talking to the lady who manages the dry cleaner down the street, and during our conversation, we were discussing the inclement weather yesterday. She said she had been in a store for only a few minutes during the blizzard, and when she came out her windshield was already frozen so much that she had to scrape it off. That’s when I realized it.

I too, went into a store yesterday for a few minutes during the same snow storm, and when I came out, for the first time in all my years of winter driving, didn’t need to scrape the windshield. Why? Because for the first time in my life I drove to the store with the warm air blowing out at my feet and through the front-facing vents instead of the defrost, which warms up the windshield causing ice to form before I get back in. If the windshield is relatively cold all along, the snow doesn’t melt.

I’m wondering why in the name of all laziness have I believed since I was a novice driver, that if it’s cold out do I need to warm up the windshield? But that’s it! If I’m too lazy to brush the snow off when I first go out, instead of letting the warmth of the car do it, then I’ll have to either keep doing it, or waste gas letting the engine do it!

Whoa!

How I love that feeling: and how I hate having not thought of it before.

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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 4 – I Spy

“I spy with my little eye…”

It started out with colours, when I was a small child and progressed to “…something that begins with…” a letter of the alphabet when I was old enough to spell. It was a great way to pass the time on long drives.

I have since graduated from that delightful little game however. Sure, I played it with the kids when they were little. But around the time when my eldest son was born, my ex and I started playing another game in the car. The first one to guess the name of the band playing the song on the radio got a point. The game would start when we got in the car and wouldn’t end until we arrived at our destination. New trip, new game.

Since then I’ve started playing it with my eldest. At nineteen years of age, he’s almost able to beat me, especially when the music is of the newer variety. It’s taught him to appreciate the music that is the same age as he is and older, which is great as far as I’m concerned. I thank heaven to this day he’s never been interested in rap – possibly because of years of listening to his dad and I play “The Game.” It’s amazing how far a little competition can go.

When was the last time you played a silly game with your family and/or friends, and what was it? Let’s have some fun today, and teach each other a game or two!

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


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JusJoJan 3 – Frost Quake Fallout

Frost Quakes are continuing with the rapid decline in temperatures. I didn’t actually hear one here, but I have photographic evidence that we had one.

This is what I woke up to on the ground beneath the tree and all around my hedges, here at home and all around the block on my paper route.

frost quake ice

Frost Quake icicles

The trees are bare of their previous coating of ice, and now the icicles lay all over the ground like tiny transparent straws. Interesting, yet as slippery as sheer ice to walk on.

Unlike earthquakes, frost quakes are close to the surface and are therefore undetectable by seismic equipment.

So if you live in the widespread area of plummeting temperatures right now, and you hear a loud booming noise, it may not actually be a car hitting your home. It might be a frost quake.

 

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


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The Most Wonderful Feeling in the World

Our homes are like our little life-pods. We go out in public and we think we’re like everyone else but we’re not. Not quite. We all have our little lives, our little traditions, our family secrets – our way of brushing our teeth.

But then sometimes we find someone we’re like, more than most of the people we meet. There is a connection and all of a sudden it’s like a light switch has been turned on and we start to wonder if maybe we knew this other person in a different life. It’s an amazing feeling to find someone we connect with. REALLY connect. Someone who is so like us that it’s like we grew up with the same ideas.

Perhaps this has to do with the zodiac, or simply with the fact that we had similar backgrounds. But what is even more shocking is when we know neither of these things is the case. It’s just the luck of the draw.

Or maybe we were siblings in another life.

Have you ever met someone who just rubs you the wrong way, before they even open their mouth to speak to you?

Have you ever known someone for a very short while who, if you look in their eyes, you know without speaking that they are thinking the same thing as you are?

I’ve felt both of these things. The latter is the most wonderful feeling in the world.


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Adventures on My Paper Route – Kindness

I was treated today with a surprise! I received a gift from one of the people on my route. Not even a regular customer, she is someone I deliver the bundle of flyers to every Thursday. I’d never met her before.

This is so neat, I thought I’d share it.

Hot White Chocolate

It’s white hot chocolate powder on the bottom, with a layer of dark chocolate drops in the middle, and mini marshmallows on top. Isn’t it cute?

You’ve got to love it when the neighbours spread their Christmas cheer!


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EDDD 19 – All I Want – A Night On The Town

Okay! Let’s have some fun with Day Four of “All I Want”!

If you could go out for a night on the town, to do anything special – say to a concert to see anyone, dead or alive (although if they’re not alive, obviously in their previous rather than their present state) – what would you do? Who would you see? What would you eat? What would the weather be like?

I would LOVE to see Freddie Mercury perform with Queen in the front row of an open air concert on a beautiful night in July. With no mosquitoes!

How about you?

Blog post of December 19th, in honour of Every Damn Day December. Check it out!


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Riddle of Keys

Reward: For the one to solve this puzzle! Come on, check it out and put your smarts to good use! 🙂

vozey's avatarMy First Fantasy Novel

riddle

worth a Dollar more than money.

dawn comes at Exclamation’s Point

if there it is at, At shall follow.

Asterisk’s Mark

dotting in Number, 1, 2, then 3

only in darkness my Percent of value may be

And Per Se And I be:

bright as a Caret.

—————————–

If you think you know what I am,

Prove you don’t know a d… turkey from a ham!

Oh! And if you “like” this without guess

you are a poser at best!

Might I add that whomever solves me first

for them will I add another verse! (IE a link to your blog)

 

Rewards for winner:

50,000 word critique of book or blog.

Link to blog.

by James Hall

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Shadow Art Sculptures by Diet Wiegman

This is brilliant! I had to re-blog 🙂

twistedsifter's avatarTwistedSifter

 

Diet Wiegman is a Dutch artist that uses a combination of sculpture and light to create fascinating shadow art projected onto walls. Born in 1944, he began experimenting with light sculptures in the 1980s, inspiring a generation of artists after him to also explore the art style (e.g., Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Kumi Yamashita).

For more artwork by Wiegman, be sure to check out his official site at dietwiegman.tumblr.com/ where you will find all of his light sculptures as well as drawings, paintings, photographs, ceramics and more.

[Alafoto via TruthSeerum]

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

 

 

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Artwork by Diet Wiegman

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