Life in progress

Category Archives: Life


by 28 Comments

SoCS – Making Light

I wonder when the phrase “making light of a situation” began to take on a mostly negative connotation. I try to find the positive in most things. Making light of them induces, in me at least, the idea that all is not always dark. That there is always a light at the end of a tunnel… that nothing is absolute. But then it’s so much easier to see darkness, isn’t it?

Light can blind us. Imagine being so happy that you can’t see any possibility of misery in the future. But then misery hits and things are never darker. Does it mean that we should look for darkness in the light as well as light in the darkness? Perhaps.

But back to my first thought – I have to wonder if the coming of our politically correct society caused the increase in seeing “making light” a bad thing rather than good. Everywhere I go these days, people are getting up in arms about this or that. Finding insult in everything under the sun. I sometimes wish we could just all “be,” without constantly being criticized for what we are and things we do and say. We’ll never please everyone, but what happened to Thumper’s old line, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all”? “Nice” is such a rarity these days, isn’t it? In society in general I mean.

And so it’s become the norm for me to make light of situations only when I’m at home, where the people I know and love know me, and know that I mean no harm. Occasionally I’ll take a chance when I’m commenting on a blog or on other social media, but I’m always nervous that there’s someone out there who will take offense and make me feel like an awful person.

People need to lighten up.

This post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/09/04/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-515/ Anyone can join in the fun – click the link to find out how!

SoCS badge 2015


by 75 Comments

Today’s News and What Social Media Finds Acceptable

I know I’m setting myself up for criticism here, but I just can’t not say anything. It’s been bugging me all day. I’ve accepted the fact that occasionally I’m stuck with coming across an image I don’t want to see on my Facebook news feed – sometimes it’s (in my opinion) poor judgement on the part of a ‘friend’ and sometimes (more often than not) it’s something that Facebook, in its infinite wisdom, has decided I want to see. But today takes the cake.

I am, of course, talking about pictures of beached babies. Isn’t it bad enough to hear about it? I have in fact NOT heard that much about it because I fear of the visuals I might come across online. Let me make this clear: I do not want to look at dead bodies. I don’t care how old they are, but particularly… I can’t even type it. It upsets me that much.

You might be thinking I’m burying my head in the sand, wishing it away to make it all better. I’m not. I acknowledge that innocent people die for many reasons all over the world every day. I’d save every one of them if I could.

You might also be thinking, “Oh poor Linda, not wanting to see things that hurt her poor feelings. How do you think the families feel?” Exactly! How would you feel if you accidentally came across a picture of a loved one, dead for all the world to see just so a point can be made? It’s not something I could ever forgive and certainly not something I’d ever forget.

If I’m missing something obvious to everyone else, please let me know. As I said, I haven’t heard the official story. It’s sad when it comes down to not knowing what’s going on because of the horribly bad taste of a photographer.

I have so had it with social media.


by 26 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – It’s all about self-motivation

I know I’ll be okay as long as I am my own fiercest competitor.

 

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds!

4. Have fun!


by 34 Comments

I did it!

365 days in a row! Strangely enough, I can’t decide if it feels like an big accomplishment or not. For the past year I’ve written a scene for each day and posted it on my fiction blog. Some I wrote ahead of time but most were written five minutes before they went live. Consequently I’ll admit they weren’t all fantastic. But during the past year I’ve met some new people, had a couple of people enjoy my scenes on a daily basis – I was once even dubbed a comic genius. Not sure about that, but I did get a lot of laughs.

And now it’s all done and I feel a little lost. I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve considered writing another series but have it scheduled to come out in a year from when it’s written, so I have time to properly edit it. I found writing a series as I just did on the fly created a few gaping plot holes and dangling story lines. At the very least I’ll probably take some time off from the grueling schedule of having to come up with an idea every day while I think about what my next project will be.

It’s been fun though. I do my best work under pressure it seems – Scenes from the Second Seat on the Right has taught me at least that. And I find it interesting that there’s a never-ending fount of scenarios out there, only a small amount of which were inspired by an actual occurrence.

I’d like to thank everyone who read at least one of my scenes, and especially my regular readers. I wouldn’t have been able to keep going without you.

Thank you. 🙂

You can find my fiction blog here: http://lindaghillfiction.com/


by 24 Comments

SoCS – Post

I’d like to know what the hell is going on with Canada Post. I received a notice in my mailbox to let me know they’ve been having trouble delivering my mail of late because of “unsafe access.” Apparently in order for me to get another piece of mail delivered to my house, I have to either install a railing up my stairs or move my mailbox to the bottom of the staircase in question:

stairs

Looks dangerous, doesn’t it? It’s approximately six feet wide and in excellent condition… in the 67 years my house has stood the mailman has managed, somehow, to navigate my stairs safely. Even in the winter – imagine that! But now, as of yesterday, it has been deemed unsafe.

On top of this–in my opinion–unreasonable demand, I’m told that if I don’t fix the “problem” they will deliver my mail to a depot across town and charge me for the service.

I priced a new set of railings a few years back and was astounded to find the company I contacted wanted somewhere in the vicinity of $5,000 to install a new set of iron railings. Tomorrow I’m nailing a mailbox to my hedge. And if I do eventually get the railings put in you can bet I’ll be staking out the front of my house every day… and the first time I catch the mailman going up the stairs without holding on, I’ll be sending a bill for $5,000 to Canada Post.

SoCS badge 2015Join in SoCS today! Here’s the link: https://lindaghill.com/2015/08/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-2915/


by 16 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – I’m Something All Right

If we can say there’s no rest for the wicked, then at two in the morning when my child gets me out of bed I can safely say something weary this way comes. ~ Quote courtesy of my brain without sleep.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds!

4. Have fun!


by 13 Comments

SoCS – All in my Head

If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know that I occasionally have problems with my eyes. I’ve tried eating carrots – that worked for a while. I tried Lutein, same thing. I tried drinking more water, I watched my sugar intake, I went to the doctor and an optometrist… The dietary stuff worked for a while, the professionals had no idea. I got a very slightly different prescription from the eye doctor which I’ve never bothered to fill. Actually putting on my glasses helps, sometimes.

With all of these temporary solutions that seem to work when I expect them to, I’ve become convinced that it’s stress. Mind over matter. I’ll start a journal to see when I lose my eyesight the most (this morning was bad) but rather than concentrating on what I’m consuming, I’ll keep track of what I’m doing or have planned. At the moment I’ve got to look forward to having all the kids home for two weeks until school starts. On top of that, my mother is bored at the retirement home and wants to come over… where she’ll spend the day getting stressed over my youngest son Alex’s screaming and teasing her, which in turn stresses me out.

Yeah. Looking at it in (hazy) black and white makes it look all the more logical, don’t you agree?

This fuzzy, unedited stream of consciousness post is part of SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2015/08/21/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-2215/ Just click on the link and join in today!

SoCS badge 2015


by 35 Comments

SoCS – Today

Today I got a few things accomplished.

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.

ID-10028266

freedigitalphotos.net

Wine is good. Friends are good. Here’s a goat.

This odd yet intensely personal post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. https://lindaghill.com/2015/08/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-1515/

SoCS badge 2015

It’s fun for everyone!


by 26 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Instantaneous Gratification in Action

Walking the track yesterday was going so well I didn’t want to stop, even though my foot hurt… just another half an hour, I said to myself: blister = no more track for the rest of the week.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use the tag #1lineWed for more exposure.

Have fun!


by 28 Comments

My To-Do List w/o Aug 10-16, 2015

Because I just know everyone out there in WordPressLand is interested in my to-do list for the next week, I’m posting it publicly. You see, I have a partial week off. Which means the kids are with their dad for a week, but I still have to drive my mother here and there, and I still have my basement troll (aka my eldest son) and his cats dwelling in my dungeon. During this time I hope to accomplish the following:

  1. Finish editing my novel.
  2. Write the remainder of my Second Seat series for my fiction blog – only 21 days left to go and I’ll have published one entry every day for an entire year!
  3. Annihilate all of the fruit flies in my house, if not the world.
  4. Pitch an article to at least three different publications for my Interview with a Magician. (Yes, I italicized it to make it look as awesome as it’s gonna be.)
  5. Write some fiction, poetry, and articles to sell, to raise money for my upcoming trip to Tokyo!! (Yes, I’m going again in November. The tickets are booked because I won the lottery to get the concert tickets I wanted!!!!!)
  6. (And this may be the hardest of all,) get away from the computer and get some exercise.
  7. (And this may be the hardest thing to avoid, but I have to be realistic,) procrastinate.
  8. Remind everyone that there’s a contest going on for which we have one (fantastic) entry so far. It’s for the new SoCS badge in case you missed the memo. Don’t make me break out the pom-poms. And for pity’s sake don’t make me enter it myself. You’ll rue the day you have to look at any more of my mad paint skillz.

 

So there you have it, WordPressLand. Can I do it? I think I can. Wish me luck.