There are way lots of things you can weigh, eh? You can weigh the odds, weigh the elephant (if you can find scales big enough), or you can weigh down the competition and squash ’em completely.
According to google’s suggestions I can weigh the pig, weigh the pros and cons, weigh the same as a duck,
weigh the options, weigh the anchor, weigh the wangdoodle (?), or hey! weigh thesaurus! I wonder if that’s anything like weighing a velociraptor?
I can weigh a plane without scales (there’s a trick I’d like to see), weigh a ton, a package, a fish, a dog, or a lot. I can even weigh a pie… somewhere over the rainbow. (Took me a few seconds to get that one. Hint: you’ve gotta sing it.)
And on that horrible note, I’m outta here. Enjoy the ducks!
I’ve spent much of today attempting to find some sort of balance. In times of stress and knowing that I have an overwhelming amount of work ahead, I fall back heavily on Taoist philosophy. There is a certain logic in it, much like Newton’s theory that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In Taoist belief there is no such thing as absolute – even though balance may fall to one side or the other, neither fully black (or yin) nor fully white (or yang) exist. This is of course a very simplified explanation. One would have to study the Tao Te Ching to come close to understanding it all, and even then…
But this isn’t meant to be a philosophy lesson. It’s about having too much of one thing and not enough of another. In my case it’s too much thought–or forethought–and not enough action. The solution is to do things. Today, while I await the start of my week and all the tasks that I can’t complete or even start until the time is right, I needed to keep myself busy and I did, to an extent.
Next week, when I’m busy as all hell, I’ll be looking for ways to sit and gather my thoughts so that I can organize my time so that I can get as much done in the small space I have as possible. In between, I hope to be able to blog. That is my reward. I go crazy when I’m not able to create. I feel useless; unproductive. Even if I’m getting lots done.
Balance is something I strive for all the time. Most of the time I’m unbalanced anyway. Please wish me luck for the next week.
I’m here to admit a transgression. A future one, which makes things worse. Up until now I’ve been choosing my A-Z Challenge words according to the page I open my thesaurus to, and that will work fine on Monday for the letter “W.” But “X,” “Y,” and “Z” are going to be more difficult. You see, there is only a page and a half for “Y,” a half a page for “Z,” and an unbelievable single word for the letter “X.” That word is xenophobic. Which in and of itself is a fine word. An interesting word. BUT, my philosophy for this A-Z Challenge has been all about the surprise. Knowing what the word is going to be ahead of time will ruin that completely.
So this is what I propose to do: For the last two letters of the alphabet I’m going to close my eyes and point. With any luck my finger will actually land on the page and not in my mashed potatoes. For the letter “X” I’m going to choose a word that starts with “EX.” There are six pages to choose from so I’ll still be in a position to improvise.
That’s my decision and I’m stickin’ to it.
Here’s some ducks to distract you from my hasty exit.
I’ve heard the word “verity” before but it’s not one I was familiar with. But what a wonderful word it is! According to my thesaurus it’s a noun, synonymous with actuality, authenticity, truth, and truthfulness, among a few others. Here’s the link to the dictionary definition: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verity
Verity, as it turns out, is a huge factor in my life. I strive to live as authentically as I can. I’m not one who has ever seen the point in telling untruths – they serve no one from what I can see. Another of the synonyms is “validity.” How can one verify the validity of an untruth? Okay sure, the occasional white lie so as not to hurt someone is an exception, but things like telling people that I’ve done something in the past that I actually haven’t done; sure I’ve been bungee jumping! I’ve even jumped out of a plane! No. Just no. I have had enough adventures and experiences without making any up. (Just to clarify, I have never, nor will I ever jump off anything high enough to warrant safety equipment. Eighteen inches is plenty, thanks. And even then, I’m afraid of straining an ankle.)
Not that I’m judging people who do create their own adventures in their minds. I’m sure they have their reasons; I understand the desire to impress someone I’m meeting for the first time. I suppose for me part of it is the fear of being caught out in a lie. That’s an awful feeling, isn’t it? I remember, vaguely, the first and only time I lied to someone to impress them. I was a child at the time, maybe around eight years of age. I felt guilty immediately and vowed never to do it again.
There are many ways to live with verity apart from being truthful to others. Being true to one’s own nature is another. I found that having a friend–a manipulative, narcissistic friend–who once upon a time convinced me to do things and act in ways that were against my true nature was one of the darkest times in my life. I began to not trust myself–my own feelings and my authentic actions–and I did things that simply weren’t me. Thank goodness I’m away from such an influence now.
In the story that is our lives, verity is a great thing to have and to hold on to, not just for ourselves but for the people around us and especially our children. How do you strive for verity in your life?
Unceasing. It’s the word I’m stuck with today… Thinking about things that are unceasing.
For me there is a negative connotation to this word – unrelenting, constant, persistent, incessant… then again, to have these qualities may drive us to get what we want in life. Or drive us mad trying.
Even being unceasingly positive can be a negative thing – there must be a balance to everything, even if it’s weighed heavily to one side. Because eventually, it all falls back in the other direction, doesn’t it? How would we have hope in our darkest times otherwise? The phrase – when you’re at rock bottom there’s only one way to go: up – comes to mind and it’s true. Unless you go splat of course.
Wow, that’s depressing.
How about some good news? The unceasing pain in my shoulder is gone. It turns out the tendonitis that caused the frozen shoulder was a blessing in disguise. Having my shoulder frozen meant that I couldn’t aggravate my tendons because I couldn’t move. SO, now that the tendonitis is gone and with it, the excruciating pain, I can move my shoulder more and the more I move it the more unfrozen it gets. Yay!! I’m still going to need physio – I’ve got a long way to go before my arm will move normally and my muscle tone has gone to pot, but it’s a start! I can honestly say I’ll be working relentlessly to get myself back to health. Unceasingly even.
Well girls and boys of Blogland, it’s the final Friday of April and the last A-Z Challenge-based Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This week I’ve been fortunate enough to have a little help with the prompt, which is a good thing since the letter of the day will be the virtuous letter “V.” My dear friend and all-round great guy, Dan Antion at No Facilities, made the suggestion a few weeks back and it’s so good I’m going with it. Here it is:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: vary/very. Use one, use ’em both, add stuff to ’em, your choice. Have a blast!
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!!
Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions
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,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”
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!
Another fun word thanks to my thesaurus and the page I flipped to today! 😀
Titter means laugh, but I always imagine it more to be done from behind a hand, hidden lest anyone should catch you doing it. It’s a sneaky laugh, a giggle caused by something that shouldn’t be laughed at, or something just plain naughty.
It reminds me of my dad who once, while putting up curtains over the kitchen sink, fell in – why he was up there when the sink was full of water I have no idea. I was a child at the time. But for years we talked about “that time my dad fell in the kitchen sink.” He was the sort of person who loved to laugh at himself, so there was no tittering going on there.
There are people we can laugh at when they do something stupid or hurt themselves and there are people who would just as soon hurt us back if we were to laugh at them openly. I wonder what it is in a person’s psyche that makes them one way or the other. Is it childhood experience – being bullied for instance? Is it what we grew up seeing how our parents reacted to being laughed at? One way or the other, I always try to gauge another’s sensitivities before I laugh at them. Sometimes it’s not easy to hide that little teehee…
What kind of person are you? I know it depends on the circumstance sometimes, but generally, do you mind if a loved one laughs at you? How about someone you know but don’t know well?
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:
Wow. Okay. “Oh Thesaurus The Great” gave me “redress” to work with today. Your guess is as good as mine where this is going…
As a verb, a few of the synonyms are adjust, correct, rectify, and repair. I suppose in blogging terms we redress our posts in that we edit them (if we’re perfectionists or even semi-perfectionists) all the time. Typos abound in my posts; if I didn’t edit them you wouldn’t be able to read half of them. But even that doesn’t seem quite right (as a definition of the word) since some of the other synonyms seem full of regret: make amends for, mend, and repay for instance. So is it fair to say that if I regret not editing my post I am full of redress? Let’s see what it means as a noun.
Atonement, indemnification, (there’s a mouthful) quittance, reparation, and restitution among others.
And here I was expecting to talk about trying on new clothes… 😉
For a long time I sat on the fence, wondering whether or not to switch my account from “.wordpress.com” to a “.com” site. In fact, I paid for my own domain long before I actually switched over. I had a few concerns, but my main one was whether or not the links I already had out on the web would lead back to my site after I changed the address. As it turns out, they do. I can still ask people to drop by lindaghill.wordpress.com and they’ll show up here at lindaghill.com. Which is wonderful! But… (There had to be a “but” in there, right?)
When I was doing research for my article about dying before scheduled posts are published, entitled “Blogging from the Grave,” I asked in the forums whether my site would still exist if I failed to pay for it, i.e. if I die. The answer was yes. All of my content will just revert back to my old lindaghill.wordpress.com address and will be here forever as long as no one deletes my account. However, all the links I leave behind which lack the “.wordpress.com” will either go nowhere or they will go to whomever buys the domain after I allow my payments to lapse.
My point is this: if you own your own WordPress domain and you want your links to last forever, don’t leave off the extra part of the address! Just a little thing you might have missed when you paid…
Edit: Now that’s interesting – I added the “.wordpress.com” to my link for the “Blogging from the Grave” post and I didn’t get a pingback on it. Could that explain the mystery of why sometimes pingbacks don’t work? (This edit is also an experiment.)
Edit2: YES! The pingback worked that time. Double the advice in one post – pingbacks don’t work if the address isn’t precise!
lindaghill.com 