Life in progress


54 Comments

How Do You Do Tired?

Now that I’ve finally caught up on my comments I’m allowing myself to post. Except… I can’t think of anything to write. Add the fact that I’m so tired that if tired was an animal, my tired would be an elephant. And it would be sitting on my lap. Do you have any idea what it’s like trying to type with an elephant on your lap? Ugh. He just farted.

This is how my family can tell when I’m exhausted. I either go hairy and bounce off the walls until someone placates me with either a cup of coffee or a glass of wine (depending on what time of the day it is… though if I’m honest I’ll take the wine any time) or I get creatively silly.

How ’bout you? Do you scream everyone around you into complete jelly-bowls of submission when you’re tired? Do you giggle until your insides hurt and your bloodshot eyes are ready to walk up the stairs to bed without you? How do your loved-ones know you’re tired?


35 Comments

What has Stream of Consciousness Done for You?

It’s been an amazingly successful week for SoCS! We’ve had a record number of participants and quite a few new bloggers join us, which makes me very happy. 😀

After months of writing stream of consciousness posts, I’m finding that it has loosened me up in most of my writing. I’m not quite as anxious when I begin to write a blog post. I’m wondering if anyone else who participates in stream of consciousness writing (whether here on WordPress or elsewhere) has discovered the same thing.

What is the best part for you about writing this way? For me I have to say it’s the speed in which I can get a post out. Not having to edit–something I usually do to a fault–makes it much easier to write a blog post on Saturday, which happens to be one of my two busiest days of the week in most cases.

I’d love to hear from everyone who has tried writing a stream of consciousness blog post! I’m still working on getting caught up with reading everyone’s posts from yesterday and replying to comments. I’ll be reading though, and will reply as soon as I can.

 


42 Comments

SoCS – When Things Go Pear-Shaped

I like circular. What comes around, goes around and what you give, you get back. Rectangular things are better than trapezoids, but not better than squares. I suppose I’m a little obsessed with order, though you wouldn’t know it looking at my house. Tidying up is at the bottom of my list of things to do.

Order in the way of plans are also important to me. When things go pear-shaped I get stressed. Not that I need to stick to a schedule – it’s more for my kids than me. Both of them are obsessed with schedules.

Today will be a busy day. If things don’t go as planned it will result in a late night.

This post sucks.

But that’s Stream of consciousness for you. Pear-shaped indeed. Show, don’t tell, right? Haha.

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

If you’d like to participate in Stream of Consciousness Saturday, click here to get the details! https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-1814/


64 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 18/14

Would you look at that – it’s Friday again! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It ‘s been a fun week for me in blogland, though I’m still trying to catch up with last week’s SoCS posts. I’ll get there though! Have no fear. I did want to mention to everyone, since the pingbacks aren’t always reliable, to check to make sure your link is in the comments after you post. And don’t forget to visit the other participants! Getting to know one another is what it’s all about! So, without further ado:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “shape.” Use it as a noun or a verb, put the word in your post or simply use it as your theme – whatever comes off the top of your head!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

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!

7. Have fun!


32 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Amusing Nonsense

On being asked, “What do you get when you cross an elephant with a duck?” siriusbizinus answered
“Either a sticky duck or a disappointed elephant.”

I laughed so hard I had to make this today’s one-liner Wednesday. Thanks, siriusbizinus, for the laugh!

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday, 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.

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.

Have fun!


59 Comments

10 Random Whats

1. What makes it possible for spiders to crawl on ceilings?

2. What if vegetables were the best tasting thing on earth and chocolate tasted horrible?

3. What time is it when the rooster crows?

4. What do you get when you cross an elephant with a duck?

5. What if our noses were upside down? Would we drown when it rains?

6. What is the most magical thing ever?

7. What colour is the sky in your world?

8. What is shiny, has four wheels and flies in the summer?

9. What was the first word you ever read?

10. What makes the world go ’round?

As always, answer all the questions for all the points. Bonus points if you come up with your own “What” question – double the points if I can’t come up with a witty response.

 

 


82 Comments

WordPress Wonderland

Stop me if this sounds familiar:

You turn on your computer on a weekend morning and sit down with your coffee to check your WordPress stats. You see not much has happened since you dragged yourself off to bed the night before so you open your reader. And there it begins. One great post by that blogger whose posts you never miss, followed by reading all the comments and then on to the next post, or the next blog…

What seems like an hour later you’re turning on the light because it’s gotten dark outside and … where did that empty chocolate wrapper come from? You get up to waddle to the kitchen for a glass of water and realize it was actually a pound of chocolate you consumed after you fell down the rabbit hole that is WordPress Wonderland and got lost in the maze of fascinating posts, pictures, recipes and laughter.

It never ceases to amaze me how much unique content can be found here on WordPress. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something even better, more interesting, more inspiring and always time-consuming comes along to pull me in and keep me seated. And it’s hard! – really hard to stop sometimes. Finding the willpower to walk away from the computer and tidy up my house… It’s almost a no-brainer, for me anyway, which I’d rather be doing. Even editing my novel gets put aside for that post that just popped up…

…so shiny…

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

 


43 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 11/14

It’s Friday, and time for the Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday! It’s been a while since I really left the prompt up to you so I’m going to make this one of those weeks. I hope you enjoy the challenge!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: the letter “s.” Write the first thing that comes to mind when you sit down to compose your SoCS post!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page 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!!

socs-badge

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!

7. Have fun!


55 Comments

Compulsion

There are some things I just can’t help. Eating the last few nuts in the tin even if I don’t want them, straightening out a crooked picture on the wall, … writing a blog post even when I’m too tired to write a blog post…

It’s been a hell of a few days, and the next three aren’t going to be any better. Last week I had two days off (meaning the kids’ dad picked them up after dinner one day and brought them back after dinner two days later) but the one in I should have had a full day off had an appointment for Alex smack-dab in the middle that only I could take him to, so I didn’t really get a day off at all. August was the last time I had one of those. All this to say that I don’t have the energy to write … anything, really. I suppose this is what being a writer is. Compulsion.

Unfortunately for all of you, it means listening to me whine about how tired I am. So here’s a consolation. A pretty picture. (Hunts for picture.) Ah, here’s one from the spring:

CAM00270-EFFECTS

and look at that – it’s not even straight

What are you compelled to do, no matter what? It’s okay, go on. Admit it. We won’t judge.

 


49 Comments

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Finding Flounder

Aside from the fact that I can’t usually find a thing I’m looking for in my house if I haven’t seen it in the previous two days (okay, that’s an exaggeration, but the frustration makes it feel that way) most of my lost things lately have been inside my own head.

Concentration. It’s what it all comes down to. Having a thousand things go through my head at once (disclaimer: this post will include many exaggerations. And by many I mean about a million or so.) is conductive to forgetting everything. For instance, twice this morning on my paper route I walked past a house I was supposed to deliver to because I have my novel in my head. A particular scene that I’ve been pondering… can’t remember now which one…

Too many people to take care of, (the last of which is ALWAYS me (exaggeration)) too little money to do all the crazy things my kids demand of me (i.e. taking the bus to the mall which costs $500 each way compared to driving the car which costs only pennies) (guess which one of those is an exaggeration. Right. The pennies one.), and where was I… Oh yeah. Not having enough time to write and edit, and read and CREATE! That’s gotta be the worst because it’s what keeps me sane. So I create in my head while I’m supposed to be doing other things. Like delivering the paper. And running red lights. And floundering around like a beached fish, gasping for air and dying… dying … dyin… dyi… d.

I’m such a drama queen this morning. Time to find some sense in it all.

 

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

This post is part of SoCS. For the prompt and everything you need to know to join in, click here! https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-414/